Tom’s Tech Tip: Computers – Repair or Replace? Facts, Fictions and Recommendations for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants

One thing Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can count on with computers is that they’re going to crash at some point. Another thing you can count on is that the breakdown will occur at the worst possible time – such as in the middle of a report for an attorney-client.

When that happens, what should a CLNC^® consultant do, repair or replace? As always my answer is a definite, it depends. The path to repair or to replace depends entirely on any number of issues, including what you use your computer for, what the issue is, the age of your computer and whether you’re an Apple^® or Windows^® user.

Windows laptops and desktops are ridiculously overpowered for the average user, much less one of my CLNC amigos, so if your computer is less than three years old, I recommend repair instead of replacement (unless it’s a catastrophic issue). If you’re a low-power user (or worse, still on Windows XP), who mostly uses your computer for email, web research, research and word-processing, such as writing legal nurse consultant reports, and your computer is more than five years old, you’re probably ready for a replacement. You could easily walk into Best Buy^® or Costco^® and walk out with a decent laptop or desktop. It will most likely be running Windows 10 and you’ll still need to buy Microsoft Office^®, but once you do that you’ll be more than work-ready. Here’s a link to laptop recommendations in all price ranges.

If you’re a Windows computer high-power user whose computer is more than three years old and, in addition to working for a living, play games, watch a lot of cat videos or digest all your movies, television and news through your computer, then you’re probably ready for a new computer with high-end video capability and lots of memory. In your situation I’d go to Micro Center^® and then Best Buy, get some recommendations and compare prices online from Dell^® and Lenovo^® before you pull the trigger. Here’s a link to desktop reviews in all price ranges. You won’t see a noticeable difference (milliseconds), but once you get used to Windows 10, you’ll be happy.

Mac^® users face a different, and entirely major, issue – that is higher cost versus slow performance. If your Mac’s performance is interfering with your day, then save some time (which has been scientifically proven to actually equal money) and upgrade to a new Mac. If you’re not to the point where your computer’s processing delays are as annoying as your brother-in-law, simply run that Mac to death – so long as you’re properly prepared with backups. If you’re ready to upgrade, then it’s time to take a day off from your legal nurse consultant business and take a trip to the Apple Store where you can drool over the high-end products and eventually walk out with something that fits your needs and budget. Here’s a link to a buyers’ guide for all sorts of Apple products.

Repair or replace? The choice is up to each individual Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. But whichever you choose, you’ll have some hassles – either being without a computer or transferring all your documents, settings and software. Just be sure you choose wisely, and don’t let yourself be pushed into a computer you don’t need.

One more warning, always make sure you have a backup of your important documents, etc. I strongly recommend a backup service such as Mozy^® or Carbonite^® or simply keep an external hard drive you can backup to on a regular basis. That will ease any repair or replacement.

Keep on Techin’,