MBA1026 How Often Do You Need to Upgrade Your Computer?

Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA show, the business podcast that's less jibber jabber and more business insights you need with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the hundred dollar MBA, a complete business training and community online over at 100. And in today's lesson you will learn how often do you need to upgrade your computer? Your computer is an essential asset to your business, especially if you run an online business like ours. I spend more time using my computer than any other device, more than my phone, more than my Kindle, more than anything. And because of that, it has to be in great shape. It has to perform properly. And ideally it should be as efficient as possible, as fast as possible. Because the more efficient and fast it is, the more efficient and fast you will be doing your work. But does that mean you need to buy a new computer every year? Well, not necessarily. In today's episode, you will learn when I believe is the best time to upgrade your computer. How often should you do it? Whether it's a desktop or a laptop, whether it's a PC or a Mac, you need the best machine possible. But at the same time, you don't want to keep having to shell out money for it. Let's learn how in today's episode. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Today's episode of the $100 MBA show is supported by Earth ClassMail. If you run a business, you need a business address, but it doesn't mean you need to open up a business office. You can work from Home and Earth ClassMail can hook you up with a business address and scan all your mail and upload it to your account in the cloud so you can check all your physical mail anytime, anywhere. I love it. I love it. I love it. And we use Earth ClassMail because we love it so much. And Earth ClassMail wants to hook you up with a free month to get started. Just go to earthclassmail.com mbamonth again, it's earthclassmail.com mbamanth use coupon code mbamonth. When it comes to your computer, the computer you use to run your business, it's either going to be a desktop or a laptop. Now let's put aside the PC Apple argument for a moment. Let's. But generally, if you have a desktop computer, it's going to last longer, especially if you have a PC, because PCs are a lot easier to upgrade and Customize, whether it's including more memory or RAM or a new video card or whatever it is. If all these terms are going over your head, don't worry about it. The point is, is that you can improve your computer with a PC a little bit easier than a Mac. But I digress. When it comes to your desktop or laptop, your desktop will last longer. It's just that the computer manufacturers have more real estate to work with. Even if you have like an all in one system, like an imac which has the monitor and the computer altogether, it's a bigger piece of hardware. They're able to give it more power, they're able to have it last longer. And when I say last longer, it's basically how fast technology is progressing. I remember when the Pentium chip came out in the 90s and there was a huge leap from a 486 to a Pentium processor. Like it's a completely different experience. And that was just from one year to the next. Nowadays the laptop you buy today is not much different from the laptop you'll buy next year. In fact, Apple doesn't change its premium laptop line that often. Maybe every two and a half to three years. So it's basically the same machine for three years. But personally, because I do a bit of traveling for work, I do presentations locally, a laptop for me is just more convenient. So instead of having a laptop and a desktop, you can invest in getting the best laptop possible, the most powerful one. So you can have it double up as your home based computer as well as the one that you use when you travel. So one, a desktop computer is going to last you longer. But you know it's a desktop, you can't take it with you. You may have to invest in a smaller laptop, a notebook, a MacBook Air, or even, you know, a iPad for that matter, if you want to use your computer or have a computer while you travel. Honestly, laptops are so powerful these days. The difference is getting smaller and smaller between the power you can get in a laptop and a desktop. So if you do any kind of travel or any kind of presentations, the laptop might be a better choice. Alright, so the second thing we're going to talk about is Macs and PCs in general. If you buy a PC laptop, you have endless options when it comes to customizing it when you purchase it, as well as when you actually have it and you want to customize it later. This is a whole argument why PC lovers love PC laptops or computers. They have more control in general when it comes to Apple laptops, you basically have three choices. You have MacBook Air, a MacBook, or a MacBook Pro. And they all have different specifications. And you can order special specs when you actually order your laptop. So you can get certain specs that you want, but once you get that laptop, you really can't upgrade it later. That's it. It's a done deal. It's a locked case. Now, that might seem like a bummer to you, but when I get to my next point, it may not matter so much. Now, obviously there's preference. If you enjoy using PCs over Macs or vice versa, you're going to go with whatever operating system you prefer, whether it's Windows or Apple's operating system os. Now, when you go to purchase your laptop, slash, computer, I highly recommend you purchase when you can buy the top of the line. You want to get the full spec model as much as possible. Why? Because that full spec model will last you longer in the long run. And the difference in price you're going to pay now is not that much compared to what you're going to get out of it because of the longevity. So if you're going to go with a Mac, for example, I will go with the top spec MacBook Pro. If you're going with a PC laptop, same thing. Max out the specs as much as you can. It may be more than what you need now, but a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, you're gonna need that power. Things are gonna slow down a little bit or you're gonna be used to faster, you know, interactions with your computer, because things are getting faster in the world. Also, when it's time for you to trade it up, when it's time for you to sell your laptop and upgrade to a new one, you're going to get more value and it's going to be easier for you to sell that machine when it's top of the line. All right, that leads me to, hey, when do I change it up? When do I upgrade my computer? Well, the simple answer is when you need to. When things are slowing down on your machine, when things are not moving as fast as you need it to be. If you're not happy with the storage, the memory you have in the computer, that's fine. You can use an external hard drive, dump everything on the external hard drive, and free up memory. But let's talk about the actual use of the computer, the speed of the computer. If things are functionally completely fine, then I would hold on to it as long as possible if you're a Mac user. I actually think the MacBook Pro line has a great timeline. It holds on to about three or four years, maybe three and a half years, and that's a good time to maybe switch up when the new model comes out. But I've held onto laptops in the past well beyond that point, like five years and they're working perfectly fine and they're great. But again, if you want the most efficient machine possible, you may want to go with the latest upgrade once it's out. Now in my experience, PCs don't last as long as Mac computers, whether it's for virus reasons or whatever. When I had a PC laptop, it just didn't function as well as it did a year ago from the moment I bought it. So like I would have it for a year and then it would just kind of fail on me. After a year or so I would have to reformat it. They'll be back to normal again. That's just my experience and I've been a Mac user for over a decade now, so things could have gotten better. But generally people say the longevity of the product, the longevity of the hardware is just not as solid as Apple's. Now how do you make sure that the longevity of your laptop, your computer, is solid? How do you get the most out of it, the most time out of it? What can you do to maintain your computer so it's healthy as much as possible, as long as possible. I'm going to get into that in a moment, but before that, let me give love to today's sponsor. Do you want to start, grow or scale a business? 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That's bestself co100mba and save 15% when you use that link. So how can we keep our computer healthy so it could last as long as possible? Well, this is software I use on my Mac and I swear by this software. It is great. And it's called Clean My Mac. It's like one word. And their latest version is CleanMyMac 3. A single license is about $40, but you can get multiple licenses if you want to use it on your laptop, your desktop and other devices in your household. And basically it periodically cleans out all the junk from your computer and keeps it healthy. And you can run a CleanMyMac whenever you'd like. This is super simple, super easy and it's not some boring UI that you can't understand like other antivirus type of things. This is not an antivirus. This is just a cleanup. This shows you how to clean up your computer and does it for you. Suggests some old files, you may not even know they exist and you can delete those as well as large files that are taking up space that you can remove from your actual hard drive and put it on an external hard drive. Unfortunately, Clean My Mac is only for the Mac, but the same company creates something called CleanMyPC, which is very similar and I would use that if you had a PC computer so you can maintain your PC or your Mac with those softwares. As a general rule of thumb, I believe if you go with the highest spec laptop or computer, you really don't need to upgrade for about three years and that's pretty good. You can of course upgrade before that if you'd like, if you want the latest and greatest. But a top spec laptop will last you these days three solid years if you take care of it. All right. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the $100 NBA show. If you did, let us know in an itunes rating and review. We'd love to hear what you think of the show, what your favorite episode is, what you love about the show, and why you listen. We read every single review and I'd love to read yours. All right, before I go, I want to leave you with this. Not only do I recommend getting the top of the line command computer or laptop because it's going to last you longer, but because you want to invest in the best when it comes to your computer. You use it so much with your business, you're on it all the time and if it can save you time, it could save you headaches. Go for it. This is an investment you don't want to go cheap on. All right. I'll check you in. Tomorrow's episode. Free ride Friday. I'll see you then. Take care. Of sam.