Desktops forum: Time for a new PC, desktop or laptop?

Lots of great advice has been given in this thread. Since this PC is seven years old, it seems to be a very good time to consider a replacement. However, there are a few things besides laptop versus desktop to be considered.

First is what to do with the old PC. These days, some vendors will actually take care of recycling for a small fee added to the cost of a new system. But even a seven year old PC might have new life with a memory upgrade and a clean install of Windows. That was my first thought when the seeker mentioned that his computer was giving him the blue screen of death every time he closed the CD tray. Your computer is seven years old - how old is your operating system? I have worked on seemingly dead systems that, when checked were operating Windows XP SP 3 on 256 MB of memory - and the original factory installation of XP. I recently bumped a friends PC up from her 512 MB to her system maximum of 4 GB and re-installed XP. Total cost to her was $100 - $80 for the memory and $20 to cover my gas and time to install it. She is no longer considering a new system.

While this may not be a resolution for the seeker, it is worth considering doing these things and then re-gifting the computer to someone who might not otherwise be able to afford a computer. Food for thought.