🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <evrwrite.311.0043A72E@powergrid.electriciti.com>, evrwrite@powergrid.electriciti.com (Ed Redondo) writes:
> In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) writes:
>>From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
> 
>>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics. [...]
> 
> Wait!  Think Windows 95.  Wait until late 95 and purchace a 90MHz
> Pentium machine, 16MB RAM or better, 1GB HD, and Plug&Play
> accessory cards.  Have you noted how the pricing of hard drives,
> monitors, etc., have been comming down lately.

The prices of hard drives, monitors, memory, CPU's, etc, have all
been dropping fairly steadily for the last 30-40 years (well before
the PC came out), and there is no indication that the trend will
stop any time in the near future.  As long as this is true, the
price will always be better next year, and there will not be a point
at which the prices start `bottoming out'.  What keeps happening is
that the low-end machines are simply removed from the market -- just
try getting a 286-based machine nowadays, let alone one like the
original 8088!  Even a (new) 386 is hard to find.  In a year you will
be able to buy something like a P-120 or P-150 or so instead of a
`mere' P-90, and _that_ will be the new `power users' machine.

The moral is, if you can justify upgrading now on economic grounds,
you may well be better off doing that & enjoying the benefits of
the more powerful machine immediately rather than waiting.  There
are always borderline cases where it's arguable, and situations
where a major manufacturer is about to announce major price cuts,
but if you just keep sitting and waiting you'll never get around
to getting the higher-performance machine.

The question to ask is, how much is the slower machine costing you,
in extra time & possibly lower reliability (due to older parts), and
in the difficult-to-define aggravation factor.  If it's not costing
you much but a few seconds of aggravation you may want to wait
(depending on how much free cash you have and how much you want to
reduce that aggravation).  If it's costing you serious money (time=
money), then you might as well go for it now.

Bruce C. Wright