Do I upgrade or buy new ?

Q.
I have a 700 Mhz HP computer with ME as the operating system. It has 128 Meg of RAM and a 20 Gig hard drive. I only use it for light word processing, Email & Web surfing. I also have a digital camera that I download my photos to the computer. Now with that known my question is, do I want to upgrade or just buy a new one, what would be better/cheaper ? Thank you for helping.

A.
I see nothing wrong with the processor speed as you are doing nothing that would demand a faster one. Don't get me wrong, a state of the art 3 + meg would get you there faster but at a cost. You would also need a mother board for a faster chip. I would ad memory to 512 total, do a clean Install with XP Home, then if you are low on hard drive space ad a second hard drive. The cost of this upgrade would run $200 to $250 if you do it yourself. If you take it to a computer shop the labor cost will make it unwise. If you can't do it yourself I would just plunk down about $425.00 for a new one. You can use your old monitor if it is working OK.

Look on the Web for a deal. Look at NewEgg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102810
This is a very good company to deal with. I have used them for years and never had a bad experience. There are lots of other good companies, so shop around for the best deal. You may also shop local, most cities (small & large) have a computer store now. The good thing on buying local is if you have a problem you can get help without the hassle, but it will cost slightly more. Don't do eBay for new computers, why ? just don't, take my word for it.

One other thing, consider moving from dial-up to a broadband ISP. If you are close to the telephone switch (exchange) DSL is great. Cable is faster but at a higher price. Wireless and satellite are just too expense at this time, but keep checking as the price will come down sooner or later.

Hope this helps you decide on what to do.

Do you have a question or need advise ? email: jack.demaree@gmail.com and I or one of my guru nerd friends will help.