Back in the early 1990s when I was building computers for a living, I didn't understand why consumers where buying these cpu upgrade chips for $200+. These chips where usually from AMD, and all that need to do the upgrade was to take out the current processor, connect it to the upgrade chip and connect them both to the motherboard and the computer should be faster. It would take about 5 minutes and $200 for a faster computer.
Just recently I started to get annoyed on how slow one of my work computer is and decided to do an upgrade. Since I am doing an upgrade, I thought it would be a great time to just build a new computer instead of buying a regular computer from the stores like BestBuy, Walmart, or Dell. The parts including the processor, hard drive, and memory cost me about $1200. Took about 30 minutes to build the computer and 30 minutes to install Windows 7.
I thought that it wasn't bad to spend $1200 for a computer, until I realize that I did not calcuate the other hidden expenses. The time to drive to the store and shop for the parts. Building and troubleshooting the computer. Installing Windows. And now, how to install programs and transferring saved files from the other computer.
This made me realize why consumers in the past would rather paid the $200 or so to upgrade their processor so they can get back to work right away. Nothing to install and no other work.
If you would have to give a dollar figure and hours, what would it cost you if you were upgrading to a new computer?
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