Your PC and Your Money
Return on Investment for Repairs, Upgrades & Tweaks
by: PO Saunders
Being Scottish, it's instinctive for me to scrutinize economics and the Return On an Investment [ROI]. Here's what you need to know about your PC and your money.
Dollar Facts: PCs, solid state and disk memory are cheap these days, getting cheaper and Moore's Law keeps working. Computer speeds and storage double every two years! That is, for less money than you spent four years ago, you can get a computer that is 16 times better! Software is cheap too. From tigerdirect.com: A gorgeous new computer with fast dual core processors and 2 Gigs of ram, plus bells and whistles and a Vista Business Edition operating system is $500. A 19" flat screen is $129. A 500 Gigabyte external hard drive is under $100. An 8 Gig external USB Flash drive is 10 bucks. Software: A Vista upgrade is $75, and an XP home upgrade is $100. Linux in small, medium and large versions is free.
For accountant and savvy investor types, I understand internal rate of return [IRR] and constantly think IRR for everything I do. But ... we won't do formal financial analyses here for the fix vs. upgrade vs. buy new decisions. Since we want everybody as customers [poor novices, high-priced folk and computer professionals alike] I'm going to rely on common sense and basic arithmetic to help you make decisions. For evaluating various options, I use a theoretical hourly wage of $25 and savings over a year. For some, their wages will be $8/hr. and for many it will be a lot more.
Let's look at some case studies that might fit your situation:
A Common Problem: Your 5 year old XP system has slowed to a crawl and the file system is getting corrupted, You need old work files but don't have backups and don't have an XP system restore disk. Note: Vista's backup system is cumbersome and barely works at all. XP Home doesn't have a backup system. It needs to be installed from the XP Install disk, but you didn't get one because the major manufacturers quit shipping install disks many years ago ...
Solutions:
1. Best
Investment: Buy a whole new system for $700,
including a massive external hard drive. Install Linux on your old
system and copy your work files to the new hard drive. Plug the
external drive into your new computer, scan old files for viruses and
you're back in business. Use the old computer with Linux for high-risk
web-connected activities like surfing and email. Work time,
[setup/copying/learning Linux basics for email and browsing] = Your
work time: 3-4-5 hours. Our work time if needed: 1/2 to 1 hr.
[$25-45] [Option: Tweek Vista to increase speed and lower RAM
footprint by eliminating "crapware" and terminating unnecessary startup
processes. Our time: 1 hr., $36.] Analysis: Everything you do will be much faster and much safer with a new computer. You will be able to think and communicate more clearly, and do better work. If a new computer only saves you an hour per week, @ $25/hour, in only saved time, that's 52x$25 or $1300 in Year 1, returned from a $700 investment!
Benefits:
Being safer from catastrophic data loss, or malware theft of your identity and/or financial data is very valuable insurance.
Increased work quality, and improved customer or employer perception depend on your particular situation, but add to the ROI.
Using your old computer for high risk, web-connected activities means you have another "prophylactic" computer that will also work if you need a backup.
Esthetics/entertainment, and new feature pleasantries are an intangible.
..................
2.
Excellent, inxpensive investment: Try
1-2 hours with us in trying to fix/refurbish your XP: Find/delete
registry problems, clean the whole system, find and remove viruses and
malware, and terminate unwanted processes. Odds of success
are: 80-90%. Our time: $36-72. Analysis: Work will be faster and safer. Again, you will be able to think and communicate more clearly, and do better work. If a repaired and tweeked computer only saves you 30 minutes per week, @ $25/hour, in only saved time, that's 52x$25/2 or $650 in Year 1, returned from a $36-72. investment! In this case, the ROI is like a home run with a penny stock.
Benefits: Being safer from catastrophic data loss, malware theft of your identity and/or financial data is insurance ... Increased work quality, saved time and improved customer or employer perception depend on your particular situation, but add to the ROI. The dice roll for you here is a one in eight chance that your XP can't be fixed, but ... you'll learn a lot and won't make the same mistakes again.
..................
3.
Cheapest Investment/ Great Solution: Install the best
version of Linux your system will tolerate and learn Linux.
DIY = "free" except for your time. If we help with the basics and send
some instructions: $25-45. Your time to get up and running with
browsing, email, spreadsheets and basic graphics will vary from an hour
to a day, depending on what version of Linux your system will tolerate:
Small Linux distributions for old computers take time to learn ...
newer versions like Ubuntu are larger file sizes and very easy to use.
NOTE: This is not a bad solution even though it's inexpensive. In fact,
it's highly recommended! If your system ran XP, it will probably run as good as new on Linux and you'll be less virus prone. Your files are probably still recoverable even though Windows is corrupt. You will have some new software that takes a bit of learning, like Open Office [replaces MS Office and is compatible] and Gimp for graphics, but ... the software is free and the return on your time and investment will be excellent.
Analysis: Everything you do will be much faster and much safer with a Linux computer if you have the time to learn. Yet again, you will be able to think and communicate more clearly, and do better work. If a Linux computer only saves you an hour per week, @ $25/hour, that's 52x$25 or $1300 in Year 1, returned from a $25-45 investment!
Benefits: Being safer from catastrophic data loss, malware theft of your identity and/or financial data; Increased work quality, and improved customer or employer perception depend on your particular situation, but add to the ROI. Using the Linux operating system is a nice status symbol.
..................
Two Similar Problems That May Apply to You: 1. You bought a "bare bones" Vista computer; 2. Your XP computer is working, but slow. Everything is on a single hard drive. You need to back everything up, install more RAM and install a new hard drive.
Drives: What not to do [probably] is install an internal hard drive and save $30 ... We suggest you get an external drive. They: 1. are portable and can be carried to another computer; 2. can be removed for security purposes; 3. can be unplugged easily and kept safe in the event of a lightning storm; 4. make moving your files to your next computer very easy. Prices vary depending on the capacity, but for some users, you may not need a hard drive at all. Consider a solid state flash drive that just lugs into the USB port. 8 Gigs may hold a year's worth of your work or more. At $9.99, get two. Keep one in a safe. These can also be removed for safety and security and are ultimately transportable.
RAM: [random access memory] RAM is really a no brainer. It's easy. If you have Vista, here's some great news. Vista is equipped with a new technology called ReadyBoost. You can use any Flash drive as RAM! It is much faster than the virtual memory which writes to and from a hard disk drive. It's cheaper than internal RAM, and you don't have to open the case. You can do the same thing with XP ... it's just slightly more complicated.
Your Time, Our Time, Your Risk and Money:
Often, the best and cheapest solution is to buy a new, upgrade version of Windows and do a fresh install. There is frequently no point in spending a day on fixing a malware infestation, If that's your best option, we'll tell you. We won't "tinker" while we run the meter.
The important thing to us is your bottom line. We want your repeat business and your referrals. We believe in open architecture, fair dealing and helping you help yourself.
Over the years, we have periodically been held hostage by computer "professionals" ... Geeks who try to create job security with jargon, over-complication and because we were just too busy to stay current, e.g. on the latest modem problems. Some tried to create created an evil, overcomplicated secret filing system ... We hate that type of pure extortion. We specialize in ordinary language, and love to help people learn how to control their own computer.
It's the bottom line that counts. If you think $36/ hour is expensive:
- Try the $30/hour guy who milks you ... "Turns out that you have a complicated problem."
- We're fast, and prepared with stock solutions that are streamlined and ready to go.
- Try "Best Buy" [after reading on-line reviews, other than theirs]
- Try your neighborhood store front solution who throws your computer in the back and puts you on "Will Call"
- Deliver your computer anywhere and hope your data isn't compromised.
- Let your kids or one of their nerdy friends work on it.
- Download "free" spyware/virus protectors, software tweekers, try them and hope they don't contain malware that can ruin your life.
- Consider how much better off you'll be when you understand your computer. Well teach you.
Finally ... Disaster Preparation
Over the years, we have strongly promoted broadband but won't tout it here because people seem to get it. See: Website Optimization. For most of us, broadband has become an indispensable tool. However ... How long will it last? Consider the possibilities ...
- A Russian satellite collided with a US communications satellite recently, adding thousands of bits of space debris to the growing cloud. (see: Space Junk) It's quite possible that there will be a cascade effect from more collisions and the world's major satellite communication systems will turn into a cloud of small bits ... crashing into each other at closing speeds of 40,000 mph!
- Malware is getting very sophisticated, orchestrated by world-wide organized crime and may well be in your computer, unfound by your anti-virus software. Botnets can crash the web, steal your identity, your money, put you out of business and bankrupt you!!! [see Google News]
- One small atmospheric "nuke" could destroy the whole US data and electrical infrastructure. It doesn't even take a nuke, just one or several small "E Bombs" can do the same thing, See: howstuffworks.com
- Last year, NOAA announced the beginning of a new 11-year cycle of increased solar activity that could increase risk of failure to power grids, communications systems, and GPS navigation signals.
Both satellite communication and the hard-wired web are very vulnerable and could simply disappear instantly. It doesn't take a major catastrophe to justify being prepared for a a grid failure. Here, in north Florida, we had three hurricanes in a single year and were without power for months, but we kept working.
Remember Darwin! Stay safe and be a winner. We can help you with disaster planning for power grid and internet failures. Although computers typically plug into 120v outlets, they are basically 12 volt DC systems [and lower].We suggest having alternate power sources and communications methods plus "rad-hardening" an alternate computer and your backups. If you're interested in disaster planning, we'd like to help you do that.
Suggested Further Reading:
"Crapware" that Comes in your new computer: [ZDNet]
"Vista OEM Backup": [Information Week]
Web and Computer E-bomb Damage: [howstuffworks.com]
Kim Komando's lame article on Malware: [The Digital Goddess is clueless]
"Eliminate 92% of Malware" [ZDNet]
"Make Vista Run Faster" [Information Week]
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