Agree or Disagree?

Got this email, and wondered how many of you feel more-or-less the same way the writer does:

I just read your piece on “What will It get me” on my new 20.1 in Dell UltraSharp digital LCD monitor.

What struck me is the fact that so many people will go out and spend so much money on multiple upgrades for their computers every year, and they are still using the POS 17in CRT monitor they got with their first system several years ago, and still sitting in the leftover kitchen chair they pulled into their room or office years ago too.

I remember when I got my first PII a few years ago, I did everything I could to make it faster because making it faster actually helped in a lot of apps and games.

But now, I am using my P4 2GHz laptop (docked) as my everyday machine, and I built a gaming/multimedia system from all the well known “bang for the buck” stuff. (MSI KT4VL (84.00), XP1600 (52.00) OCed to 2200, corsair xms3200 ram(200.00), PNY GF4 4200(99.00) OCed a little.

It turns in a 3DMark score of 11839, will run all my games silky smooth, and runs Prime95 24 hrs without a problem. I will probably get a 9700pro when they drop in price, but until then, I still can’t use the speed my systems already has!

So I am spending my discretionary computer money on stuff that adds more enjoyment to my “computing experience”. A really comfortable chair and a really good monitor. The monitor was a steal since Dell was running a sale and it cost me 769.00. It’s as big as a TV, and watching a DVD on it is amazing. Plus it will last me several years.

So I have more money wrapped up in my monitor than in my main system, and that may be a hint of what the future holds.

With computers getting more powerful than what the applications can really use, there is less and less incentive to upgrade. We are now at the point where we upgrade just for the fun of it. There is no necessity anymore.

My point is this- If you have a system that is around the 2GHz mark, go spend your money on stuff that will really let you enjoy your computer- like a LCD monitor, good surround sound speakers, good chair, etc. and only upgrade when there is a real reason to.

Do you personally agree or disagree with this? Drop me a note. Just one other piece of info along with that: how long you’ve been a computer hobbyist.

Thanks!

Ed