I suspect most people don’t realize it isn’t that their PC got slower – it is that everything online has gotten more complex and more demanding. Many companies assume that everyone they want to reach has a newer computer and high speed access (even though that is FAR from the truth) so they allow their Web designers to keep adding more and more “stuff” to every page.

Anyone with an older computer or a slow Internet connection can really feel the pain on sites like Google AdWords and any site that has auto-play videos or moving advertisements. Still worse off are those poor folks stuck with Satellite Internet and especially HughesNet. I am locked into paying for it but it is so painful to use that I do almost nothing with it – and it costs twice what my wireless costs!

I switched to Ubuntu from Windows XP Pro a year ago August but do recognize that many are not willing to make that change – at least not yet. I always heard Unix required less hardware; however, I immediately added more memory so it would run better.

The way I use a computer is far more intense than most people but I know many others like me. You’re right in that we would do well to splurge on both processor speed AND memory – actually we should splurge on EVERYTHING because anything slow from our graphics card to our hard drive – everything – slows down what we’re doing. And we can use all the speed we can get.

I guarantee that if anyone can tell how much difference a high-powered computer makes and can write persuasively about those specific differences it is power Social Networking bloggers.

Having you review their systems is a great idea. I’ll keep my eyes open for opportunities for you. There are some specific actions you can take that will increase that potential. Contact me if you’d like some details on what I mean.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..MEME: Share What Makes You Feel Thankful =-.

I like your suggestions regarding some posts about specific upgrades. Let me see what I can come up with. Regarding RAM vs. faster processors the answer is get both For upgrade puproses adding RAM is generally the single best way to improve performance. But only up to a point. With Windows XP 2GB of RAM is best although you may still get some performance benefits with 3GB. More than 3GB doesn’t really get you much.

With Windows 7 you want all the RAM you can get as it handles RAM significantly better. I’ve seen a few system offering 12GB – 16GB of RAM which is very cool. Win 7 Pro and Ultimate will Address up to 192GB of RAM but I’m not sure if there are any MoBos that are capable. Still, Win 7 with 16GB of RAM and a pair of 300GB Velociraptors will provide some nice performance.

If you come across any computer manufacturers looking to have their high end systems reviewed I’m available.

I’d love to see more posts on specific upgrades and believe they would be extremely useful to your readers. If you have or write them let me know at Twitter @GrowMap or in my blog and I will spread them across Social Networks.

Specifically buyers need to know where to spend more money based on how they use a PC. I did research, posted in forums and asked several PC techs I know whether more memory or a faster processor would be more important to speed up the specific work I do.

You could create personas the way GrokDotCom recommends ecommerce sites create sales funnels using them and then suggest specific models or configurations for each type of computer user.

Gamers are an obvious example of users who need certain upgrades most of us don’t need. Graphic Designers are another. Someone who spends much time watching YouTube videos needs more PC than someone who only writes emails and chats online in AOL/MSN/Yahoo Messenger.

Power Social Networkers who are bloggers are my particular interest because we have certain behaviors in common that require more memory and speed such as having multiple windows open at a time with dozens of tabs open in each one.

We are often logged into many sites at once, use multiple browsers because of the cookie issues and have many FireFox addons running because we’re doing SEO analysis and link research while we blog and share across Social Media.

The blogger and/or PC manufacturer who starts addressing these specific needs will have the advantage and will sell many PCs and laptops – especially if they configure the software and apps on them for specific users.

We really need a Power Social Networking layout that includes multiple SEPARATE FireFox windows installed so we can be logged into multiple accounts with different personas.

I have a particular white box manufacturer in mind that I really wish would provide a high end PC for my work because I know how much difference it would make and how often I would be highly recommending it to serious PC users and businesses who want to focus on productivity rather than spending any time tweaking their PC and fixing what doesn’t work.

Power bloggers write guest posts on each other’s blogs – in my case on High PageRank blogs written by companies that service high end clients and Corporations and are read by the decision-makers for those companies. Those selling PCs could be reaching those readers with strong recommendations for their products by placing them in the hands of some serious, persuasive bloggers.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Blog Outreach: 8 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Be Doing It Now =-.

After mulling this over for some time, the idea of how little money that $100 actually is when amortized over 4 or 5 years hit me. When doing some initial calculations I had one of those “Aha” moments. The numbers actually become even more interesting if you take my example and assume that a person will use the computer for four hours a day instead of only two hours per day — then the per hour costs drops to 4 Cents per hour. Thanks for stopping and commenting.
–Mike