Comments on: Determining When to Buy a New PC

By: John Lee

John Lee — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:03:08 +0000

The main concern I have about the five year old computer is the hard drive. In my experience hard drives last about three to four years. If this were my computer I would either replace the hard drive or get a new computer. If the hard drive fails, it will be difficult and/or expensive to get the data off of it.

Sometimes hard drives fail suddenly, sometimes they start to act up and give you time to retrieve your data.

I would search the hard drive for all of my personal data and consolidate as much of it as possible in one master folder (I keep it on my desktop); and determine how to back up things like browser bookmarks and Outlook Express emails, which Mossberg has covered in his columns.

One issue I have with backing up files is that if individual files and folders are copied to another storage medium, as opposed to doing an image backup of the whole drive, the copies will not have the original “Created” date; the Created date will be the date the copy was made. I prefer having the original Created date because that is a record of when you made those files. When you move files, as opposed to copying them, that preserves the Created date.

By: Neil Anderson

Neil Anderson — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:34:54 +0000

Restarts are pretty infrequent on my iMac. Once every few months.

By: Dave Barnes

Dave Barnes — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:42:26 +0000

I replace my computers at the 2.5 year mark. It is based upon 2 factors:
1. They have integrated screens (e.g., laptops)
2. The warranty expires at the 3 year mark

Out of warranty repairs are very expensive.
I can sell the machine more quickly while it is under warranty.

So, 2-1/2 years it is.

By: Richard Mitnick

Richard Mitnick — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:44:56 +0000

The Anti-virus question:
All the buzz right now is for AVG Free 7.5.

The age of the computer question:
I had two 5 year old computers, working fine; but a 133FSB and CPU’s of a gig today just do not cut it. So, new equipment, 633 FSB and 2. and 2.5(?) gig Core 2 Duo CPU’s. Life is easier. I still have the older machines in my digital palace and on my network, doing good work.

By: Comparação do Leopard com Windows Vista adivinhe qual o mais rápido? | Windows x Linux

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:59:43 +0000

[...] este tempo muito exagerado, porém , os testes foram feito por um site internacionamente conhecido Mossberg’s do “The Wall Street Journal” por isso sou levado a crer que o resultado foi realmentee [...]