# Do you foresee a need to upgrade your computer soon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** computer-hardware\ **Created:** [November 9, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872 "2023-11-09T16:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/101 "2023-11-24T15:57:27Z")
I gave up on dvd drives, and have an external one i can plug in. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/102 "2023-11-24T18:26:27Z")
Yeah, I’d recommend a $20 USB connected DVD Drive rather than shackling yourself to only DVD-included options when pricing a desktop ---
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/103 "2023-11-24T20:51:59Z")
Enim. Yeah, that’s one upgrade I can do without. Initially was outraged at the lack of included optical drives in notebook computers, but quickly got over it with the discovery of cheap external drives. And came to prefer external drives for discs and disks of all sorts, and love the bomb. Have a CD player in my car as well, hook-and-looped to the dash. Works fine, and looks cool, like a smoke detector The Bandit would have on his rig, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/104 "2023-11-25T16:07:11Z")
Yes, because a lot of great games are too pretty for my old machine. I’ll have to get advice on opening the case and putting the bloody card in or whatever when I get it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/105 "2023-11-25T16:19:23Z")
I considered a standalone optical drive but real estate on my desk is short. Perhaps with my upgrade at the end of this decade I’ll have to go that route but for now I just find it more convenient and efficient to have one in the PC. What I’ll never understand is the appeal of all in ones. They remind me of the old TVs with the VCR built in. When the VCR died, as they all did, you had to replace them both. Suppose you think “gee, a bigger monitor wouild be sweet” but you’ve locked yourself into an all in one. Why do that to yourself? ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872/106 "2023-11-25T16:31:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > What I’ll never understand is the appeal of all in ones. I always figured they were initially targeted at call center employers - where the buyers are not the users - so they could save some money and simplify inventory and replacement. For individual buyers, some people just hate looking at cables going everywhere, and will make sacrifices for those aesthetic preferences. My mother-in-law is in this category, I think - certainly it’s one of the things she likes about her iMac. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-foresee-a-need-to-upgrade-your-computer-soon/992872.md?page=5)