I know I'm frugal but

[shootingstar]

Wow, a 10-15 year-old-computer. That's a crazy long time for one to hold out.

Good luck with the new one. I think computers are like cars, a necessary evil.

ps. Buy a Mac

I think it is possible to have a computer last that long, provided one does the basic upgrade on operating platforms, email, word processing and Internet browser.

How many people really use a fantastic complicated, mathematical piece of software...beyond Excel and perform lots of sophisticated macro-based calculations for personal use (not work-related)? You don't need a super duper computer for that.

If one does photo adjustments, regularily, then having a faster computer does help or what I do is blogging or alot of Internet surfing daily, which having a computer that uploads faster is helpful.

Unless a person is maintaining a huge database for personal reasons.... Not I. I do stuff like that on the job...and leave it behind at work.

Maybe someone can tell me, but I've heard from several info tech folks in different workplaces tell me that generally, laptops do not last as long as good desktop computer. Have things changed?