Just because something works doesn't necessarily mean you don't have to replace it. Take my HP laser printer for example. I owned one for years. It was a great printer and it never gave me a hint of trouble. The sucker just wouldn't die. And I never realized how bad it was until I recently decided to get rid of it and buy a new one.

You may ask yourself why I would toss out a perfectly good working printer. Because I realized that it was working perfectly for something that was designed years ago. But compared to today's standards for a perfectly working laser printer, my old one was actually keeping me from being more productive.

Laser printers use something called a corona wire that heats up and fuses the powered toner to the paper so it doesn't rub off in your hand. In order to be more energy efficient, my old laser printer would time out after a short period of time. The problem with that was when I needed to print after the time out. More than likely, enough time had passed since I last printed something and the printer was back in its standby mode. So when I wanted to print again, I had to sit and wait while the printer re-energized itself. That usually took about a minute and then it had to cycle itself back up, sounding like a little turbine engine as it did so. Yes it was only about a minute for the process to take place but it was really annoying. And there was nothing I could do but just sit and wait every time I wanted to print something. I found myself trying to pace myself just so I wouldn't have to sit through it. But inevitably, I would just miss the cycle time and have to go through it all over again.

Also the printer only printed about 10 pages per minute, it weighed about 40 pounds and was so big, it needed its own table. When I got my new HP laser printer, it was like the clouds had parted. First of all, there was no more warm up time. It's still energy efficient but they figured out a way to make it just print on demand. That alone was worth the upgrade, but it also prints out pages at almost three times the speed and is half the weight and size. Plus is can duplex print, which means it prints on both sides of the page, works on a network, and has literally dozens of other new features. It also costs a fraction of what I had paid for my old model printer. So buying a new one even though the other one was still working was the best thing I could have done. I donated my working printer to a charitable organization that was glad to take it and I got a tax write-off to boot.

And that was just my laser printer. So here's my advice. Take a closer look at everything you're using both inside and outside of your computer. That router may be slowing you down because it's an older megabit model rather than a newer and faster gigabit version being offered today. Even your video screen may be making you squint more because its colors are faded, the text isn't as sharp as it can be or there's a subliminal flicker that's giving you headaches.

My point is that you should take a closer look at the equipment you're using even though you may be thinking that it's all working just fine. Because it may be working fine by the standards it was held to back when it was made but it may actually be holding you back given the current standards. And don't think this holds true for just your computer and its devices. This goes for just about anything technological such as your TV, digital camera, even your stereo system.

Here's a good rule of thumb. If it's older than three years, chances are there's something out there that's doing it a lot better.