海角大神

For most of us, the desire to replace our computer comes about due to one of two things. Either there鈥檚 a hardware failure or there鈥檚 a need to run some application that doesn鈥檛 run well on our older computer.

In either case, I鈥檝e found myself in a position to replace my computer twice since I鈥檝e owned my own. I replaced the computer I purchased in 1998 with one purchased in 2002, and I replaced the one purchased in 2002 with one purchased in late 2008.

I am now starting to potentially look for another computer. I鈥檓 not聽quite聽at the replacement point, but I recently reinstalled my operating system on my computer in order to just get a fresh start with everything and it still crawls when I do things like editing audio or video. I鈥檓 also beginning to suspect some other hardware issues going on with it, such as an occasional complete system crash when nothing is really happening.

In any case, it鈥檚 likely time to replace it, which means that I鈥檓 starting the replacement process.

From my perspective, there are four main ways to save money on a computer replacement.聽

1. Build it yourself
This is probably the best method of all if you鈥檙e interested in learning more about how a home computer actually works and want to build some useful skills along the way. It鈥檚 also the best way to maximize your 鈥渂ang for the buck鈥� in terms of the computer you wind up with and it also lets you control the exact quality of each component in your computer.

The drawback with building it yourself is that it takes time. You have to order each part separately and you also have to be following a guide (particularly if this is your first time doing anything like this). I鈥檝e also found that when building it myself, I tend to roll any 鈥渟avings鈥� into buying better components, meaning that rather than spending less, I spend the same amount and end up with a higher-end system with more reliable parts.

If you鈥檙e interested in this route, I highly recommend this聽Lifehacker article providing a first timer鈥檚 guide to building a computer from scratch. When I buy parts for this, I usually shop at聽Newegg.

2. Buy low end and upgrade
Another option that鈥檚 not quite as technically intimidating as building your own computer but still requires you to dig into the case a little bit is to simply buy a low-end computer and upgrade it yourself. Buy an off-the-shelf PC that鈥檚 got a low-end sticker price on it, then upgrade the memory and the video card (these are the two biggest upgrades for me, since I often make videos on my computer) and perhaps the hard drive yourself.

Swapping those pieces in and out of a modern computer is pretty straightforward. You can find very nice step-by-step guides with lots of photos online to help you do this. Plus, you learn a new skill along the way in a low-stress and low-risk environment.

Will you save money this way? You might save a little, but the big advantage is that it lets you spread out the purchase a bit. You can buy the low-end box, take it home, set it up, and use it for a while (though it might be slow), then upgrade the components later on as you feel they鈥檙e necessary. Even better, if you find out that the low-end computer actually fits your needs, there鈥檚 no need for you to upgrade parts.

3. Wait patiently for a deal
If the thought of ever opening up a PC case makes you shudder, that means you鈥檙e probably going to be buying an all-in-one system from one of the PC manufacturers. My best advice to you is to find a 鈥淧C deals鈥� forum (I particularly like the one at聽fatwallet) and just browse it for a while until you get an idea of what the 鈥渙rdinary鈥� deals are and what an exceptional deal really looks like.

If you watch PC prices for a while, you鈥檒l get a sense of what you鈥檙e going to have to pay per gigabyte of memory and terabyte of hard drive space and what the value of various processors are. I reached a point with my last computer purchase where, if you told me the manufacturer, the chip, the amount of memory, the video card, and the hard drive space, I could tell you pretty accurately what the 鈥渄eal鈥� price was going to be.

I just waited around until I found something that was exceptionally below the price I expected and I dove in. It took about a month of daily checking.

4. Use a rewards credit card
When you do spring for a computer, it鈥檚 going to be an expensive one-off purchase. I highly recommend using a credit card for it (assuming you pay off your card balance each month). First, a credit card has way better fraud and identity theft protection than a bank card. Second, you have the possibility of getting some strong rewards when you buy.

Some cards can return up to 3% of your purchase to you in the form of various rewards. Even a 1% return in the form of a gift card you鈥檒l actually use for something worthwhile is better than nothing. On a $500 purchase, a 3% reward is worth $15 鈥� even a 1% reward is worth $5.

The key, of course, is to pay off the balance in full at the end of the month. Don鈥檛 carry a balance forward or you quickly lose any benefit you might have had.