Computer Upgrade

I have schemed for years about getting a new laptop. The one I used all through graduate school is now more than 10 years old and is falling apart. Awhile back, my brother was nice enough to give me an old desktop computer he had. Our family has been using this old computer for a number of years now and I decided recently that I was going to get rid of the old junker and buy that new laptop I've been wanting.

I felt bad getting rid of the old desktop which is still fully functional and meets most of my needs. There were a few programs I could not run because I did not have enough RAM. I finally decided that I didn't need a new computer. DH helped me do some research and discovered that we could upgrade the 240MB of RAM on the computer to 2 Gigs. We also purchased a refurbished monitor from Dell since the old CRT monitor is going out. Upgrading the RAM was simple and cost around $70.00. The monitor cost around $120.00. So, for less than $200.00, I now have a "new" computer that meets my needs.

The process of upgrading the RAM was relatively simple. First, DH looked on the motherboard to see what type we had. He looked it up on the internet and found that it could support up to 2 Gigs of RAM. DH shopped around on the internet to find the best price for the sticks of RAM. Note, the older your computer is, the more expensive it is to upgrade the RAM. Overall, though, it was still an inexpensive upgrade. The sticks or RAM plug into the motherboard. It's just that simple. Be sure that you are grounded (touch something metal) before you mess with the computer.