Recently, computer sales have slowed down worldwide. There are many reasons for this, one being Windows 10 being a free upgrade for a while, and also the rise of tablets and smartphones. Another major reason: people are keeping their computers for longer. But how long should you go in-between computer upgrades?

Until recently, the standard time between computer upgrades was roughly three years. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to use a desktop computer for more than 5 years. There are definitely cases where people use them for much longer, but this is just an average. Desktops generally last longer than laptops, since they can more easily be upgraded with new hard drives, graphics cards, etc. Laptops can have some components upgraded, but usually you would expect to use a laptop a couple years shorter than a desktop.

We do see people using computers for much, much longer than the above estimates, but there are reasons for upgrading, other than just the computers breaking. For example, Windows’ updates will fix security issues. If you don’t upgrade your operating system, you can have issues with viruses and malware. Making sure you upgrade your windows version often is extremely important. Nearly every version of Windows has required more hardware to run than the previous one. In recent years, this trend has been broken. Microsoft really worked hard to make sure that Windows ran quickly and efficiently, which actually reduced the minimum requirements.

Another area of improvement that your next computer may include is an SSD (Solid State Drive), which because they don’t have moving parts unlike a traditional hard drive, are less likely to stop working. This means that your computer may run longer and without issues. You can actually upgrade an older computer with a new SSD and give your computer new life. We have upgraded a 5 year old computer with an SSD, and this has increased the speed to be even faster than when it was brand new. We suggest having a computer repair company do this for you, as they will insure that it goes smoothly and that you don’t lose important files.

You should still consider upgrading your computer every 4 and a half to 5 years. This doesn’t mean your computer will be worthless, but there will be many new features that a new computer would have. Laptops change more and more often, add new features are added regularly like touch screens and the availability to convert them into tablets. There are also options like the Surface computers or tablets, which add new features regularly. Often times, you can sell your older computer and put some of that cost towards your new upgrade.