So you want a new laptop. Of course you do. Everybody always does, except for perhaps during that short honeymoon period after you’ve just bought one. But the glamor wears off, technology marches on, and before you know it, a newer, younger, more powerful model is wandering into your thoughts.
I’m not here to judge, but as a technology specialist I can share a few thoughts that might help you fight the urge to upgrade.
Let’s start with the basics: the No 1 reason not to buy a new laptop is that you don’t need one. We’ve grown accustomed to living in an age where technology gets faster every time you turn around, but the jobs we’re actually doing on our laptops are evolving at a much more timid pace. Many of us spend 99% of our computing time using just a handful of apps – a web browser, a conferencing app, a word processor, and possibly a spreadsheet or presentation app.
If you’re looking for a new laptop because you’re having to do all of the above on a lousy screen, or with a clunky keyboard, then you might have a point – we’ll come to that later on. But if your head is being turned by faster processors and bigger SSDs, hold fire: do you really think you’ll get your reports written any faster because you’re typing them on a Core Ultra 5 processor rather than an old i3? Worry about your own productivity before scapegoating the poor computer.
Outdated connectors aren’t an excuse either. Your laptop may not have the latest USB ports or wifi hardware, but the wonderful thing about modern standards is that they’re stupendously backward- and forward-compatible. You don’t need a new laptop to pair with your sparkly new wifi 7 router – the wifi 5 card in your current one will work just fine (although a Windows update will still take ages). And any USB peripheral can be plugged into any USB port, dating all the way back to 1996 – as long as you have the right cable or adapter.
Save money – and the environment
Let’s also acknowledge that not buying a new laptop saves you money. A grand or more for a high-spec model is a lot to spend, but if you tell yourself it’s a long-term investment it somehow feels justifiable. But this doesn’t mean the money can’t be better spent elsewhere.
If you’re looking at replacing your laptop because there’s something wrong with it, you might be able to save money by getting it repaired. Sadly it’s not always feasible, largely thanks to the trend toward factory-sealed devices and soldered-in components, but do look into it, as a busted laptop can sometimes be restored to a Quasi-pristine state for a third of the price of buying a new one.
Another reason you might hesitate to decommission your existing laptop is that it takes a lot of environmentally costly materials to build a new one, and there’s a further ecological cost in safely disposing of your old one. one.
Finally, once you do plonk a shiny new laptop down on your desk, you will probably spend the following days and weeks hunting down all the different bits of software and drivers that you need to reinstall, and working. through endless settings and preferences to get the thing working the way you like – which is to say, the way you already had your old one working.
How to get the best out of your existing laptop
If you do decide to give your laptop another chance, there are things you can do to make your working relationship more harmonious. If you’re irritated by endless pop-ups and performance jitters, it’s always a good idea to audit the items that open on startup and turn off any that don’t seem necessary. Windows works perfectly well without any third-party software firing up automatically at startup. All that extra stuff added in there by pushy apps and overzealous laptop manufacturers – that can all go, and your life will be better for it. Even if you’re on a Mac, it never hurts to check your login items and see what you can do without.
The same goes for browser extensions, which tend to accrue to the point where every page you open is covered in smart content and analytical toolbars. As well as getting in your way, each one consumes resources and contributes to that sense of general malaise that afflicts laptops of a certain age. Ditch ’em. If you’re using Chrome, enter chrome://extensions into the address bar and smash Remove on anything that isn’t earning its keep; in Microsoft Edge, the address is – guess what? – edge://extensions. On Safari, open the Settings window, and select Extensions to view and manage your plug-ins.
And while you’re having a clearout, I recommend spring cleaning your storage too. There are lots of neat free tools that will perform a wholesale audit of your hard disk and show you exactly what’s taking up the space. My personal favorites are WinDirStat on Windows and Disk Inventory whichever you pick, I’ll bet you’ll be shocked by the amount of space you’re wasting on old downloads and unnecessary apps. Purging them probably won’t make your computer run any faster, but if you were thinking of buying a new laptop just because this one was nearly full, that urge may now be quelled.
Alternatively, you could give your laptop a new lease of life by treating it to a hardware upgrade or two. As with repairs, this isn’t always possible, but it’s worth exploring whether you can add extra memory, extend the storage or replace the battery. Expanding the RAM, in particular, can make a remarkable difference to the overall feel of a computer. The latest operating systems and applications tend to high-handedly assume that you have at least 8GB of RAM and prefer twice that much; disappoint them and they may embark upon a go-slow in protest.
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Reinstall from scratch
Beyond all that, you can always engage the nuclear option – a complete wipe and reinstall. There’s no need to muck about with dozens of floppy disks as in days of yore: you can now download and reinstall the OS files over the internet, on Windows and macOS. This makes it a tantalizingly easy way to restore the spring to a computer’s step, but bear in mind that the process will put your computer back into the same naive, unpersonalised state as a new laptop. And be very certain you’ve backed up all your personal files before you head down this path – the reinstaller may offer to keep your documents and settings, but if anything does get lost, that’s squarely on the head of the genius who decided to reformat their own hard drive.
While I’m on this tack, don’t underestimate the power of physical cleaning. Much of the thrill of opening up a brand-new laptop is to do with the perfectly unsmudged screen, and the spotless, grease-free keys that respond precisely to your touch without the slightest hint of biscuit. crumb. I recommend you turn off your laptop, grab a non-abrasive cloth (ideally microfibre if you have one) and give it a proper wipe down, inside and out. Then, turn it upside down and attack the keyboard with a handheld vacuum, giving the keys a good scrub with the brush, to dislodge any dust or morsels from around the edges. When you turn the thing the right way up, it’ll be like someone’s handed you a new computer.
Maybe you do need a new one after all: signs to upgrade your laptop
All the above notwithstanding, there are some situations where a new laptop is the right answer. As I’ve intimated, repairs and upgrades aren’t always possible, so if you’ve shattered the screen, the only solution might be to take a trip to the computer shop.
A particularly irritating scenario is when the hardware is still working fine, but is too old to support the latest operating system and security patches. This tends to happen to Apple systems after about a decade, and it’s about to hit many millions of PCs on 14 October, when Microsoft cuts off support for Windows 10. Computers that meet the hardware. requirements for Windows 11 can upgrade for free, but the rest will be stuck out in the cold.
If your computer is among that unhappy cohort – and for whatever reason you’re not in a position to install a non-Windows OS – then a new laptop is a must. While it’s possible to keep running an unsupported operating system, I can’t in all conscience recommend you do that. Without regular security patches coming down from the mother ship, you’d be a sitting duck for future hacks and ransomware attacks.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to bin your existing laptop. You can install a free Linux operating system on almost anything, and use that for everyday tasks such as surfing the web, editing documents and spreadsheets in LibreOffice, and even making video calls.
Another option is Google’s ChromeOS Flex platform, a free version of the Chromebook operating system that you can install on a wide range of laptops. Whether you use it yourself or pass it off to a friend or family member, you’ll have done your bit to extend the life of that particular device, and to defer the environmental cost of decommissioning it.
Finally, let’s not pretend that there isn’t a social aspect to all of this. The whole point of a portable computer is that you can take it out and about with you, where people can see it. Rocking up in your local coffee shop with a David Cameron-era laptop makes a certain statement, and not necessarily a bad one: it shows you’re a loyal, practical sort of person, unswayed by the temptations of consumerism.
For more, read the Filter’s guide to how to make your smartphone last longer
Darien Graham-Smith has been a professional IT journalist for more than 20 years, covering brands from Amazon to Zyxel for various magazines, newspapers and websites. A lifelong technology enthusiast, he wrote his first “HELLO WORLD” program on the Sinclair ZX-80, and prides himself on keeping his home fully set up with all the latest consumer gadgets – whether useful or, more frequently, not
