The System, By Rosscott
Friends, I am here today to tell you that you are being bamboozled! Hoodwinked! Flim-flammed! Throw out that beefy new Alienware workstation and get yourself a sturdy little slim profile desktop. Trade in that big honking business laptop and get yourself a sleek, shiny netbook.
Sounds kind of silly, right? Not entirely. In fact, there are very good reasons for downgrading your desktop or laptop system, some of which can save you money in the long term. Most people don’t even need all of the bells and whistles their new system comes with; they may have been lured in with the mantra “more is better” without realizing that more costs more–even after the purchase is complete.
Admittedly, you would very well be giving up some performance. Gamers who thrive on the beefiest processors and video cards would be hardest hit. Ultra-realistic detail and high frame rates are critical to hardcore gamers. If you’re a more casual gamer, however, you can afford to give up a bit of power. If all you do is use your computer for web surfing and email, you don’t need a performance workhorse system.
Software developers and graphics designers are also likely to be affected by a downgrade. Compiling code, and working with high resolution images would be adversely affected by a downgrade. The software developers could possibly offload their compile onto a server, making a beefy workstation unnecessary. The graphics designer, however, might not be able to spare the computing power of their high end workstation–they would become less productive if it takes longer for them to do their work due to a downgrade.
The level of ease of the downgrade depends entirely on what you are downgrading, and how much. For instance, if you currently lug around a big old beast of a laptop when you travel, consider a subnotebook or even a netbook. For most people that travel, chances are very good that you don’t need much more than access to the web and email. The migration path then is short and sweet; configure the new laptop, copy over your necessary data, and give your neck and shoulder a break from carrying around a giant brick of hardware.
If you’re currently in the market for a new desktop system because your old one is giving up the ghost, consider more carefully what you need your computer for, rather than just buying something huge and powerful. For instance, do you need that high end $1500 Dell desktop, or can you do everything you need with the bargain $500 setup? If you’re a parent giving a computer to your kids for schoolwork, you might want to be cost-conscious. Maybe you just need a small form-factor system that stays out of the way when you don’t use it. An Apple Mac Mini for $699 or any of a number of tiny PC options are available, usually for $500 or less.
