Computer Upgrade Advice

Hello,

My wife and I both have Toshiba laptops that are beginning to feel their age. We are kicking around the thought of purchasing new systems but we are very frugal folks and are having trouble with the decision.

Our current systems are Intel Core Duo processors with 4gb RAM and 500gb hard drives running Windows 7 64 bit. A nice system in 2009.

Here are my questions:

1) the laptops have slots to upgrade the RAM it 8gb. Also, 1T hard drives are available. Would purchasing a new battery and upgrade RAM and hd for a couple hundred dollars suffice? Or is just biting the bullet on a new system the better route. (not crazy about going to Windows 8 if I don't have to but I do realize that I will probably have to eventually)

2) Would moving a bulk of my wife's saved items to an external hard drive boost performance?

3) Any advice on a new system would be appreciated.

I am not a tech guru, but I'm no slouch either. Happy to provide any additional info if necessary for better/more accurate answers.

Thank you!

 

To start, what are you using the laptops for? Just the internet and email?

You mention upgrading your components for a couple hundred dollars.

Depending on what you use the laptops for, you can get a basic model laptop at Walmart or BestBuy as cheap as $250. These are fine for basic internet use, email, browsing, etc. Expect them to last a couple years.

Moving things around to an external device will not necessarily boost performance. Have you re-formated or restored the computers at all?

What type of stuff do you have on the laptops? Alot of pictures? You can buy a 1TB external drive that you both share. It's more than enough storage for most people. Any newer laptop you buy should come with at LEAST 500Gb hard drive capacity.

 

I have not reformatted either machine. I run CCleaner every couple of weeks and on hers as often as I can sneak onto it.

My wife does a lot of photography. She saves everything to her hard drive. drives me crazy! I wish she would save to a cd or some place else in case it all goes down.

I use MS Office Suite everyday and run Quickbooks. I do a lot of writing, prepare proposals, and create presentations. She has thousands of pictures and runs Photoshop (not sure which version). And she is a Facebooker while I am often using the internet to search for information.

 

DavidGP,

Great advice. After reading through your statement and talking it over we think that you are right to wait for Windows 10 and go ahead and upgrade to new machines. I looked into OneDrive after your suggestion and will be utilizing it as well.

thank you very much.

chas

 

How much space left is on that 500 GB hard drive?

The best performance boost would be in buying a SSD. Your computer will fly like it was brand new.

But, you will have to re-install the OS and all your applications this way.