Slow speeds the biggest bugbear for computer users
But they aren't all that willing to buy a replacement
A new survey has revealed that computer users cite slow speeds as their biggest computing annoyance.
A quarter of the 1,000 people asked about their computing habits said that when a computer got sluggish it was their biggest bugbear, but on average they still stick with the same machine for 4.5 years.
The survey was commissioned by Crucial.com, a computer memory upgrade website, which found that instead of replacing an older computer that was slowing down they would rather compress files, run an anti-virus checker or reboot the machine.
Which is quite heartening considering the throwaway age we seem to be living in.
Big investment
"A lot of people regard their computers as more than mere machines, so it's no surprise that the research unearthed strong emotions from computer owners, such as the disagreements they have with their systems due to slow speed," explained Roddy McLean, marketing director at Crucial.com.
"A computer is a big investment that comes with high expectations, and it is clear from the survey that most people aren't treating them like disposable assets."
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Given that this is a survey from a computer upgrade site, it's no surprise that nearly half of all those asked thought a memory upgrade would be beneficial to their computing system.
A massive 39 per cent, though, were scared at the prospect of doing a DIY upgrade. And 16 per cent of users who obviously need to man up were more scared of their computer than they were of discarding a spider.
With this in mind, it's pretty crazy that a mere two per cent of those asked change their computer every two years.
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.