Reasons to upgrade your laptop

Reasons to upgrade your laptop

April 11, 2019 | 5years | IT Manged Services

Getting an upgrade to your work laptop can seem like more hassle than it's worth. There might be sign off required, you’ll need to back up and transfer your files and the thought of potentially having to learn a new operating system can make it seem like a new laptop isn’t worthwhile. However if you’re running on a laptop that’s a few years old then you’re running on an outdated machine. For efficiency, power and enhanced features it’s definitely worth considering upgrading your work laptop. Here are eight reasons why:

1. Longer Battery Life
Battery life is of key importance for business laptops; you don’t want to be chained to a charger when you need to be mobile and move between meetings or locations. Battery life diminishes over time and as batteries start to hold less charge they may only last for as little as 20 minutes before you need to plug in.

Many new laptops will have batteries that last 5 hours or more under standard use and many also include advanced features that will help you save battery life, giving you the flexibility to work anywhere.

2. More Power
Moore’s Law suggests that the computing power of integrated circuits double every two years. This means that every 2 years your computer is 100% slower than a new one! So if you’ve had your laptop for four or five years you’re running at least 200% slower, probably more, depending on what you use your laptop for. This is going to be having a huge impact on your user experience, with much slower performance and efficiency than a newer machine would have.

3. Compact, light and portable
Newer laptops are usually much lighter and more portable, this means if you’re carrying it around on business trips and to meetings it will be much easier to fit in your luggage and won’t weigh you down. It’s now possible to get laptops that are only a centimetre thick, and are very lightweight.

4. Avoid Costly Repairs
Because laptops are carried around a lot they tend to end up with a lot more wear and tear than a desk top computer. The average life of a business laptop is around 3 years, and after this things will likely start to deteriorate both in terms of software and hardware. Upgrading regularly will allow you to avoid an untimely breakdown of your laptop that could be costly both in terms of time and data lost.

Also the older your laptop is the less cost-effective it becomes to repair and replace parts and because technology is continuously improving it’s also common that parts for your laptop simply won’t be available any more.

5. Your needs have changed
Since you got your laptop has what you use it for changed?  If you are travelling more then maybe you need a more portable model, if you work with clients regularly then you don’t want to look like your laptop's out of date, and depending on the programs and the type of work you’re doing maybe you need more power, speed or memory. A new laptop could help solve all of these problems and are definitely worth considering when you’re looking to upgrade.

6. New Operating Systems
New operating systems have a lot of features that make it worthwhile upgrading for, but if you’re on an older laptop then these upgrades are likely to slow your system down more as new operating systems are usually created to work on new powerful laptops where you can experience the full benefits of the new operating systems.

7. New Features
If it’s been a while since you upgraded your laptop then there are a whole new set of features that have been added since you last purchased. From new connections and ports that provide easier connectivity and communication with other devices to faster modems, there’s a lot that you can benefit from that will make your work more efficient and your user experience better.

8. Reliability
If your laptop is starting to show any signs of giving in then you should definitely be considering an upgrade. If you have to turn your laptop on and off again, or have programs not responding or lose connectivity regularly then it’s a sign that you need to consider something more reliable. This will give you peace of mind that you’re not going to lose your work at any moment, and it will save you time and make you more productive.