Laptops are probably some of the best pieces of technology there is. They’re compact, portable and have many capabilities that your desktop computer or even your phone doesn’t have. And if you’re one of the many who have been forced to work from home for the past two months, then you know just how helpful your laptop can be.
The convenience a laptop offers is one of the main reasons plenty of people invest in one. According to Deloitte’s latest study, 78 per cent of adults in the UK own or have access to a laptop, and it’s the preferred device for making online searches and purchases.
As much as you use your laptop, though, its convenience can turn into a nuisance. So, how do you know when it’s not returning your investment anymore? We highlighted a few signs you might need to browse for new laptop models from online PC retailers.
1. Everything is slow
As mentioned earlier, laptops are convenient. When yours stops being one because it takes forever to boot, you wait five minutes for a piece of software to open, or you fall asleep waiting for a file to transfer from one folder to another, then your laptop is more of a bane than a boon and needs to be replaced.
2. The battery drains fast
You leave home with your laptop fully charged, ready to get some work done at a coffee shop. You figure you wouldn’t be there for more than four hours, so you confidently leave your charger behind. But after the first hour, you notice your laptop’s battery is at 25 per cent. Unfortunately, as your laptop ages, its battery life starts to take a hit. And if you have to carry a charger everywhere, your laptop won’t be so portable anymore. If you’re more often stuck with your laptop plugged, it might be time for an upgrade.
3. It often crashes
Say, you’ve been typing away all day, trying to meet the daily word count for your manuscript. Or maybe you’ve been editing a video set to go up on your YouTube channel tonight. Suddenly, you’re laptop crashes, and you have to restart. If your device frequently does this, it’s a sign of bad news. Not only are you risking losing progress on your work, but your files may also be corrupted or, worse, completely lost. Look for a replacement before your current laptop corrupts every file in it.
4. It lacks storage space
Lack of storage is one of the reasons your laptop keeps crashing or is slow. While laptops usually have an ample memory space, every download, log-in and online search you do, not to mention the photos, documents and other files you have stored in your laptop, all take up space, The good thing is you can easily see how much space your laptop still has. You can always delete or transfer to cloud storage the files you can’t let go of. But if you’ve done so and your laptop’s memory is still close to full, you might benefit from a new laptop with an even larger storage capacity.
Your laptop should give you peace of mind instead of a headache. If you notice any or all of these things while using your laptop, do yourself a favour by ditching and replacing it with a new one.