Fix or Replace - When is it time?

When someone calls and starts describing a wacky virus message, broken hinge, a keyboard that sticks or a hard drive that doesn't seem quite right, the first question I usually ask is "How old is your computer?"  The purpose of this question is to determine if the repair costs will outweigh the benefit of the repair.  As a general rule, use the following table:

Desktops 6 years

Laptops 4 years

Netbooks 2 1/2 years

I always get the comment "yeah, but I bought the best of the best processor so I will get more out of it."  I have not seen this to be true.  During those years, you will have a quicker computer experience but the device will still break down as quickly as if it had a less expensive brain.

These might seems like very short life spans to you, but here's why they make sense.  A computer depreciates at an extremely fast rate.  The value of a computer typically is the data and applications on it, not the hardware components inside.  If you spend $750 of a desktop computer, a major repair of $400 three or four years later would be better applied to a new computer where you would get new components, probably more RAM, a faster processor, more hard drive storage, and oh yes, a warranty.  Another reason that computers have a short life span is what I call "technological obsolescence".  Not only do the components break down from regular wear and tear, but new technologies come out that make more sense to buy as a whole in a new computer than to retrofit, if it's even possible, your existing computer.  Take breakthroughs like USB 2.0, integrated webcams in laptops, and digital video / displayport / HDMI outputs as examples.