Convince me to upgrade.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I’m writing this on a computer I owned for 4 years straight. It works totally fine, but I still wanted to do this because it would be a fun post, I think.

So, leaving aside the problems with e-waste and economy, here’s a challenge: Convince me to upgrade my computer based on what I do with it, and you get…1000 points! (not FUNK, just points). Specs are below, and you’re free to ask any questions you want regarding its features and what I do with it.

Manufacturer: LENOVO

Processor: Intel Core i3 4005U 1.70 GHz

Memory: 8 GB (DDR3)

Channel #: Dual

DRAM Frequency: 798.1 MHz

Graphics: Intel (R) HD Graphics Family (Yes, integrated Graphics)

SSD: SanDisk SSD Plus 6 GB/s

OSs: Windows 10 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro

Optical Drive? Yes

Display resolution: 1366×768 (60 Hz)

SD card reader? Yes

Ports:

• 3x USB-A 3.0 ports
• 1x 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone Jack
• 1x (Likely non-functional) HDMI port
• 1x (Never used) VGA port
• 1x Square end power connector (Not sure if that’s that is name for it, but it doesn’t matter)
• 1x Security port

[Moskito256]

Don’t upgrade. Just install Linux on it.

[Tjeff148]

“if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, if it is broke, blame the customer.”

– Tim Cook

[Anonymous]

@moskito256 The thing is: I *kind of* already bought a license for Windows? Don’t give me wrong, Linux is great! And I could certainly do some 3-layer dual-booting, but if I just wiped everything and installed say Ubuntu on it or something (I’m not that into linux, so it’s one of the 5 distros I know) I’d be wasting more than $100! (Now take that and multiply it by 4 and a half. That’s how much I paid for Windows in my country!)

Nevertheless, I’m now considering installing Linux into it. Thanks for the suggestion!

YOUR SCORE:

+500 Points (As you suggested something that I could do, but didn’t meet the rules of the challenge, which were to convince me to upgrade. Good game still!)

[Anonymous]

@ClutchTjeff148 Basically every warranty repair service ever

 

(To the people just scrolling by, Go ahead and post your questions and suggestions. There’s still 1000 points on the table and at this moment nobody has achieved them all)

[Harrison]

there are 6 main reasons to upgrade to a new computer. the first is a newer design. I don’t know what your old one looks like, but a newer one will come with a better design. take the MacBook pro/air for example. it has great speakers, an amazing keyboard, and an outstanding trackpad. also, with the aluminum, it looks and feels nicer too. or, if you prefer windows, then the Microsoft surface laptop has the magnetic charging port, along with the Alcantara keyboard. good design will sometimes even improve functionality. the MacBook’s trackpad would definitely improve it. second is a higher resolution display. 768 is ok, but not very good. again going back to MacBooks, they have the super retina displays. when I look at it I can not see any pixels whatsoever. the 3rd is newer ports. USB c or thunderbolt 3 is great. also, on Microsoft laptops, you get the magnetic changing. it is oh so convenient. just put the cable next to it and boom. connected with magnets. you would also get rid of that VGA port. no one uses VGA anymore. it takes up space, weight, and makes your laptop thicker. 4th is more and better RAM. DDR4 is better, and 12 GB of it is best. not too much, so you dont use all of it and have it bring up the price. if you have too little, your laptop runs slower. the 5th is better graphics. some laptops have really nice graphics cards, and look really good too. and last, 6th, is a newer and better processor. a 2018/ 2019 intel core i5 should be a nice improvement, and last better down the road. there are my 6 reasons why you should consider upgrading your laptop. I would personally recommend a macbook, but if you like windows more the microsoft surface laptop and surface book are also great. the Dell XPS, HP Spectre X360, and Razer blade stealth 4k are nice as well. but, this all my opinion, and you dont have to take it seriously.

[Anonymous]

@harrison So, I mostly agree with your points, but here’s a breakdown:

1. Design-wise, I do agree with you. Not only is the design of my current computer a bit outdated (I mean, even the product itself was considered “End of Life” on the Lenovo Webpage for it!) but contains things you wouldn’t necessarily want, like a fingerprint sensor that didn’t work from the start, Plastic bits on the chassis that are literally breaking off; I could go on for ages. Regarding keyboards, I personally use an external keyboard and mouse for my computer (since the trackpad is starting to give it up), but I do have to say that the idea of having a better keyboard built in sounds great, especially as I do a whole bunch of typing both for school and non-important occasions. I remember back in the day I was actually wanting to purchase a Surface Pro, but couldn’t because of price. And while considering price all of the design of a computer may come at a cost, it actually feels like it would be much of an improvement from not spending much of design at all.

2. Regarding display…kind of. First, because I’m not much involved in that many areas involving around design, so I don’t really need that many pixels or definitions to view what  work with on a daily basis. Not just that, but as I am already pretty accustomed to the displays of low-end laptops, as those are the ones I’m mainly working with (Not considering games here, as I don’t play any.)

3. Regarding ports, you do have a point, but the thing is: I don’t have anything else that can plug into thunderbolt or USB-C. Most of the things I have in my possession can only be plugged into an USB-A port or (yes) a Micro-USB port. Magnetic charging seems amazing though. There are OH SO MANY times I could have accidentally broken my power connector because I didn’t see where I was going, and despite the durability of my current power port, it would probably be a life-saver to have one of these preinstalled. Otherwise, I feel pretty happy with what I have, although I may consider having more USB-A ports, as it came at an inconvenience when I plugged in an external webcam (no, my webcam works great, I was just wanting another one I could physically take out and point at something) and realized that if I wanted to plug in an external mic (Which have always disappointed me on laptops, so that would be a big factor when upgrading) I couldn’t connect an external keyboard because of the lack of working ports. (And, regarding dongles, I think I could switch to using them on a newer computer, but it would just feel like a bit of an extra inconvenience if I just wanted to plug in something and access it quick (Although if it broke, I could just replace it, unlike in a laptop. There’s both sides to the situation))

4. RAM. As I previously mentioned, I don’t play any games at all or frankly do anything that would (at the moment) need loads of memory. DDR4 Sounds nice, but frankly speaking, my current RAM setup has gotten me covered for the most part. (at the time of writing)

5. Graphics. (Same thing as above)

6. Processor. While my current processor has given me some headaches, and while it would feel great to just open your computer, turn it on, and two seconds later it boots; The big elephant in the room here is (you guessed it!) Price! As mentioned in the main post, I can’t really afford anything expensive. And the fact that I would just be using it to improve experience and not for anything else just feels like a waste. Despite that, I would totally do it, but for security, as most bugs in Intel Processors only affect older generations of processors, so upgrading would definitely be great in regards to that.

 

So, the final verdict: As you actually put effort on putting up a post telling me “You’re wrong, get something else and stop suffering” and as you actually made me really feel like what I have is kind of outdated and I kind of want to upgrade now, congratulations Harrison: You’ve got the 1000 Points! 🎉🎉🎉 *play celebratory music*

 

YOUR SCORE

+1000 Points (Good game!)

[Tjeff148]

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[willbilly]

Damn there an entire focking book here just trying to convince a guy to upgrade their laptop. I love this community.

[Anonymous]

Yep, and also another 2 books and half in return.

 

oh and update by the way: My AC to DC Power adapter broke (It’s the 4th time) and I’d have to buy a new one to continue using it, so there’s another point for upgrading.

[Author]

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