# Computers and The Terrible Economy



## Jack1000 (Feb 4, 2001)

In the coming years with the price of gas now over $4.00 a gallon, which appears to be getting worse over time and the difficulty that families are having just to pay the bills and buy groceries, what do you see for the computer age and how will this effect the economy? Do you plan to hold onto your current OS and hardware for as long as possible because of the economy? Are you considering alternative options to less expensive software and hardware? Will there be any deals by Dell and Gateway to ease the economic burden? I plan to hold onto my Dell Windows XP system for as long as possible, because I can't afford to buy a computer now. Nor do I need one. Other than my floppy drive dead, which no one uses anymore, my system runs very well.

Jack


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## texastoy4her (Nov 30, 2004)

You raise some interesting points. In my mind I feel the same as you do. I will not be upgrading my system or hardware unless needed as I can not afford it.

As far as Dell or someone offering some "deals", I don't see them doing any more than what they currently do. Again these are just my views, only time will tell.


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## Doug Vitale (Jan 27, 2005)

I ran the same computer from 2001 - 2007 (a Dell Dimension 8200). In 2007 it just got way too slow compared to some of the new PCs that I used at work. I also couldn't install a few newer games because my Dimension didn't have the horsepower to run them. So I purchased a Dell XPS with dualcore 2.13 CPU, 2 gigs of RAM, and a high-end Nvidia card. I am hoping to use this PC until at least 2011 or 2012 because, as the original poster noted, in these times you have to be especially thrifty and cut out any excess spending on unnecessary items. We have to drive less, buy only essential groceries, don't go to restaurants, don't buy clothes as often, etc. And yes, that means that I don't buy the wide screen TV with surround sound speakers that I have been longing for for way too long...


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## redhat9 (Jun 11, 2004)

I completely hear you. I have been running an AMD Athlon 64 for years now. Its not the quickest but with 2.2 GHz and 3 GB ram, it does just fine. I mean why do I WANT or NEED a new Core 2 Duo when this things does everything I need it to. To some it's slow, but I find it very fast.


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## nvrsummer2 (Jun 17, 2004)

My plan is to keep an eye on current hardware and buy individual pieces when I see a good deal. And as soon as I have enough to piece together a new system, ill take whats still relevant from my current system and port it over.


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

So you know it to replace a floppy drive, is about $10 and while they are silly for storage, they still are used by many utilities and about the only way to install sata drivers for an XP setup on older pc's. I never build a pc without one.


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## Jack1000 (Feb 4, 2001)

Rich-M said:


> So you know it to replace a floppy drive, is about $10 and while they are silly for storage, they still are used by many utilities and about the only way to install sata drivers for an XP setup on older pc's. I never build a pc without one.


Rich,

Since I bought my Dell Dimension factory direct back in October 2004 and the drive at the time was an optional add-on for $45 if memory serves correctly, would I still need another floppy drive even if I had the Windows XP recovery disk and all the other needed restore disks from Dell? According to Dell's support services, it seems that newer computers, made after July 15, 2004 can boot from the CD Rom.

Jack


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## Visionary2 (Jul 19, 2007)

I would sell most all I have down to the walls to keep my computer, but hope it won't come to that. My friends & family that live far away are on there, it's my entertainment, my learning tool, my daily addiction.

I may get that magic jack free phone calls plugin and save a bundle on my phone bill.


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Jack1000 said:


> Rich,
> 
> Since I bought my Dell Dimension factory direct back in October 2004 and the drive at the time was an optional add-on for $45 if memory serves correctly, would I still need another floppy drive even if I had the Windows XP recovery disk and all the other needed restore disks from Dell? According to Dell's support services, it seems that newer computers, made after July 15, 2004 can boot from the CD Rom.
> 
> Jack


No you would boot to XP Cd same as if it was a Microsoft logo Windows XP cd.


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## Jack1000 (Feb 4, 2001)

Rich-M said:


> No you would boot to XP Cd same as if it was a Microsoft logo Windows XP cd.


Thanks! That is what I thought.

Jack


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