Update Dell laptop or purchase new laptop today
April 20, 2023 9:14 AM Subscribe
Should my older relative update a 7 year old Dell Inspirion laptop that is running slowly or just purchase a new one?
I am helping an older relative with a 7 year old Dell Inspirion laptop that is running very slowly. We had planned on purchasing a new one but she is now having second thoughts and is leaning towards upgrading (I believe both the RAM and SSD) of the old one for a quarter of the price. A trusted computer repair person did a diagnostic on the old one and would do the upgrades.
She is leery of purchasing a new one due to mixed reviews and has had a hard time making a decision/letting me make one. I have a macbook so I am not a good resource on Dells, and do see the reviews are mixed. She will not by used/refurbished and is leery opposed to HP brand.
We need to make a decision today and I would appreciate any thoughts on upgrade vs. new. Please note, cost is not the primary issue for her, it is anxiety about getting a new machine she has to re-learn and that may have new/different problems. She only uses it for web browsing and word.
Thanks for any thoughts.
I am helping an older relative with a 7 year old Dell Inspirion laptop that is running very slowly. We had planned on purchasing a new one but she is now having second thoughts and is leaning towards upgrading (I believe both the RAM and SSD) of the old one for a quarter of the price. A trusted computer repair person did a diagnostic on the old one and would do the upgrades.
She is leery of purchasing a new one due to mixed reviews and has had a hard time making a decision/letting me make one. I have a macbook so I am not a good resource on Dells, and do see the reviews are mixed. She will not by used/refurbished and is leery opposed to HP brand.
We need to make a decision today and I would appreciate any thoughts on upgrade vs. new. Please note, cost is not the primary issue for her, it is anxiety about getting a new machine she has to re-learn and that may have new/different problems. She only uses it for web browsing and word.
Thanks for any thoughts.
RAM and an SSD are sensible upgrades to make an old machine faster, but a new machine will be better, have a new battery, come with a warranty, etc.
If you have a Costco membership, buy a mid-range laptop and give it a spin during the no-questions-asked return window. For laptops that's 90 days to try a new computer and, if it doesn't work out, bring it back for a full refund.
posted by zippy at 9:27 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
If you have a Costco membership, buy a mid-range laptop and give it a spin during the no-questions-asked return window. For laptops that's 90 days to try a new computer and, if it doesn't work out, bring it back for a full refund.
posted by zippy at 9:27 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Personally, I would not spend any money trying to improve a laptop that is 7 years old. Google search seems to show that the consensus is that laptop usable lifespan is around 3-5 years. If the battery has not already been replaced, this laptop will probably also need a new battery soon, which will add to the expense.
Additional specific reasons not to upgrade the old laptop:
- CPU and memory speeds will be faster with a newer laptop. These components typically cannot be upgraded in a cost-effective manner.
- Windows 10 support ends in 2025, and a 7-year-old laptop probably will not run Windows 11. Using an OS that doesn't get security updates is a bad idea. A new laptop will almost certainly come with Windows 11.
I don't have experience with Dell or HP laptops. I've had good experiences with several different Lenovo laptops, but I haven't used any newer Lenovo hardware, so I don't have a specific recommendation.
posted by cruelfood at 9:29 AM on April 20, 2023 [12 favorites]
Additional specific reasons not to upgrade the old laptop:
- CPU and memory speeds will be faster with a newer laptop. These components typically cannot be upgraded in a cost-effective manner.
- Windows 10 support ends in 2025, and a 7-year-old laptop probably will not run Windows 11. Using an OS that doesn't get security updates is a bad idea. A new laptop will almost certainly come with Windows 11.
I don't have experience with Dell or HP laptops. I've had good experiences with several different Lenovo laptops, but I haven't used any newer Lenovo hardware, so I don't have a specific recommendation.
posted by cruelfood at 9:29 AM on April 20, 2023 [12 favorites]
The "running slowly" may be low ram causing swap to [spinning] hard disk, which is going to be really slow in comparison to more ram & an SSD upgrade. The upgrade makes a lot of sense, especially since the use case is not very challenging.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:40 AM on April 20, 2023
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:40 AM on April 20, 2023
laptop usable lifespan is around 3-5 years
Typing this on a 7-year-old laptop that is a pleasure to use, and having used much older ones, I think it really depends. The Inspiron series isn't a Thinkpad-type professional series famous for its build quality, but on the other hand if it's doing well, and especially if it (the laptop) leads a basically sedentary lifestyle (i.e. is not being moved around a lot) then I'd think the odds of even another 3-5 more years are not bad.
That said, battery life and Windows version are definitely factors to consider.
anxiety about getting a new machine she has to re-learn
If that means getting used to a later version of Windows, she's going to need to do that sooner or later. Does she anticipate feeling more or less comfortable doing that in 2025?
If it's about getting used to a later version of Word, that depends on what she's using now, but it might be possible to install the same version on a new computer.
While you're at it, do make sure she has (multiple) backups of any files she cares about, regardless of what computer she's using.
posted by trig at 10:15 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
Typing this on a 7-year-old laptop that is a pleasure to use, and having used much older ones, I think it really depends. The Inspiron series isn't a Thinkpad-type professional series famous for its build quality, but on the other hand if it's doing well, and especially if it (the laptop) leads a basically sedentary lifestyle (i.e. is not being moved around a lot) then I'd think the odds of even another 3-5 more years are not bad.
That said, battery life and Windows version are definitely factors to consider.
anxiety about getting a new machine she has to re-learn
If that means getting used to a later version of Windows, she's going to need to do that sooner or later. Does she anticipate feeling more or less comfortable doing that in 2025?
If it's about getting used to a later version of Word, that depends on what she's using now, but it might be possible to install the same version on a new computer.
While you're at it, do make sure she has (multiple) backups of any files she cares about, regardless of what computer she's using.
posted by trig at 10:15 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
The model # might help. Inspiron's are lower-end consumer-grade laptops. Newer computers have faster CPUs, but that's not usually the bottleneck. Most applications use a bit more RAM these days, but not all that much. My laptop gets most bogged down when I have a bunch of facebook tabs open, as fb is a fiendish memory hog, but other sites like tiktok also use up RAM. Chrome, any video, and Zoom use a fair bit of RAM.
Ask a knowledgeable person to look at what run at startup, to delete no longer used apps, maybe to wipe it and reinstall what's needed.
How much RAM will the laptop take? 8 gig is recommended, 16 is nice. This is usually an easy upgrade. The answer is in the BIOS or Dell specs.
An SSD will be faster. Slightly more complex upgrade.
It's good to keep e-waste to a minimum. I'm not loving Win 11, 10 is okay. The biggest annoyance for me as I move to a newer (used Thinkpad club member) one is a different keyboard.
Nthing backups.
posted by theora55 at 10:25 AM on April 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Ask a knowledgeable person to look at what run at startup, to delete no longer used apps, maybe to wipe it and reinstall what's needed.
How much RAM will the laptop take? 8 gig is recommended, 16 is nice. This is usually an easy upgrade. The answer is in the BIOS or Dell specs.
An SSD will be faster. Slightly more complex upgrade.
It's good to keep e-waste to a minimum. I'm not loving Win 11, 10 is okay. The biggest annoyance for me as I move to a newer (used Thinkpad club member) one is a different keyboard.
Nthing backups.
posted by theora55 at 10:25 AM on April 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all for quick responses. She has decided to get a new model, and these are the specifics.
Inspiron 16 Laptop
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
Windows 11 Home, English
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
16", FHD+ Non Touch Display
16 GB Memory and 512 GB SSD for storage
posted by fies at 10:39 AM on April 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Inspiron 16 Laptop
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
Windows 11 Home, English
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
16", FHD+ Non Touch Display
16 GB Memory and 512 GB SSD for storage
posted by fies at 10:39 AM on April 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
What's the cost of the proposed upgrades vs. the cost of a new laptop? 20%, 40%, etc.?
Upgrading the existing laptop is a gamble: you're gambling that the upgrade will give you a few more years rather than the full price of a new laptop, and that the existing laptop isn't going to go belly up in that time due to other reasons.
If you upgrade and the laptop dies anyway in 2 months, then you're out the cost of the upgrades (the SSD may be reusable in a newer machine or external caddy, the RAM probably won't be).
If the upgrade is more than 20-25% of the cost of a new machine, then I'd recommend buying a new machine. The good news is that PC and part sales are down, so the prices are better right now than they would've been last year.
Dells aren't the only option, even if she doesn't like HPs. If I were buying a Windows laptop today I'd go with a Lenovo or a Microsoft Surface laptop.
For specs I wouldn't get anything less than a Core i5 and 16GB of RAM, and preferably 32GB if you want it to last another 7 years.
posted by jzb at 10:43 AM on April 20, 2023
Upgrading the existing laptop is a gamble: you're gambling that the upgrade will give you a few more years rather than the full price of a new laptop, and that the existing laptop isn't going to go belly up in that time due to other reasons.
If you upgrade and the laptop dies anyway in 2 months, then you're out the cost of the upgrades (the SSD may be reusable in a newer machine or external caddy, the RAM probably won't be).
If the upgrade is more than 20-25% of the cost of a new machine, then I'd recommend buying a new machine. The good news is that PC and part sales are down, so the prices are better right now than they would've been last year.
Dells aren't the only option, even if she doesn't like HPs. If I were buying a Windows laptop today I'd go with a Lenovo or a Microsoft Surface laptop.
For specs I wouldn't get anything less than a Core i5 and 16GB of RAM, and preferably 32GB if you want it to last another 7 years.
posted by jzb at 10:43 AM on April 20, 2023
That new laptop should be pretty robust for the average user, and they'll probably get another 7 years out of it I bet.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:31 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:31 AM on April 20, 2023 [4 favorites]
You should probably purchase a new one. Windows 10 support ends in 2025, and a seven year old laptop likely isn't supported for upgrading to Windows 11 due to the age of the CPU (which is not upgradable). Inspirons are also consumer-grade and are much more likely to experience some other catastrophic, non-repairable failure.
- Typed from a ten year old laptop
posted by meowzilla at 11:36 AM on April 20, 2023
- Typed from a ten year old laptop
posted by meowzilla at 11:36 AM on April 20, 2023
OP said the repairs are about 1/4 the price of a new laptop.
posted by mskyle at 12:15 PM on April 20, 2023
posted by mskyle at 12:15 PM on April 20, 2023
I am by no means a computer expert. I can relate to the situation. I get anxious about getting a new computer...you have to transfer files, and usually by the time I upgrade there's a whole new version of windows to learn. That said, if she only uses the computer for web browsing and word...I would say it's a better investment to just get a new computer. There are many really fast, reliable, and affordable options out there and then she'll have it for a good several years to come. While it's ok to upgrade her current computer, I think it makes more sense to buy a new one. Now of course it's good to bear in mind...at the end of the day since she's only using the web and word...she'll be fine no matter what choice she makes. But she's gonna eventually need to learn the new windows, and at 7 years old that lab top may die in the near feature. Also just as another side note...does she travel a ton with the lap top? Or does she use it in one place all the time? I ask that because if she uses it in the same spot all the time...maybe consider a desk top? You can get A LOT more bang for your buck and they typically have a longer life. Just my 2 cents...but totally understand the convenience and ease of use with a lap top.
posted by ljs30 at 9:45 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by ljs30 at 9:45 AM on April 21, 2023
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posted by mskyle at 9:25 AM on April 20, 2023 [2 favorites]