Cash call
By LJ Rich and Chris Long
Splashing cash on fancy gadgets can often be seen as a luxury especially during an economic downturn – but can we save money by upgrading our existing tech rather than investing in brand new gear
The answer is that it depends on the gadget in question.
For instance, there is only a limited amount you can do with a laptop. You can replace the hard drive and maybe upgrade the Ram. The former will give you more space to store stuff and the later may make the machine a bit speedier.
The rest is tricky – you cannot really upgrade the graphics card because it is welded in and getting to the processor is very difficult indeed.
An easier way to upgrade your laptop without fuss is to add an external hard drive, or even an external numeric keypad.
Scary experience
Paul Trotter, editor of PC Advisor says: "Upgrading your laptop can be a fairly scary experience the first time you do it.
"You may first of all void the warranty, but it’s likely that if it is a slower, older system your warranty is already expired.
"If you are replacing something like Ram you need to make sure it’s the correct Ram otherwise your laptop won’t recognise it.
"Fortunately there are some websites that can do the trick for you – Crucial.com has a memory advisor, as does Kingston.
"If you don’t want to open up the laptop you can speed things up a little bit by looking at the software installed, removing programs you don’t use and using PC clean up tools.
"There is software that you can download such as C Cleaner which will remove all the unwanted software and bits and pieces on your hard drive and speed things up."
Free software
There is lots of free software online offering many alternatives to paid programs.
It is possible to find free anti-virus (avg.com), collaboration tools (mindmeister.com), project management (nozbe), file-transfer (Filezilla), blogging (wordpress) and media players (videolan).
And on the subject of software that can save you money, you could use your internet connection to speak to people on the other side of the planet rather than via the old-fashioned phone.
The technology in question is called Voice Over IP (VoIP) – the "IP" stands for Internet Protocol. Many of the services that use it are free if users call another person on that service. That can save quite a bit of money if you regularly have long conversations with friends or family abroad.
Going green
If you are watching the pennies, you will be pleased to know that your car GPS might soon help you keep an eye on your bank balance as well as the road.
One new system has an alternative eco mode which claims to save money and the environment by telling you when you are driving inefficiently.
The big advantage of this is the moment you start using it, you will be greener.
The maker Vexia says it will take six months to pay for itself.
Some cars, like the Honda Insight hybrid already have an eco-mode built in.
The display helps you by glowing green if you drive ecologically. For short journeys in the city, this car could save you a bundle.
Watch Click on BBC News Channel, Saturday 5 September at 11.30 (BST).
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