As holiday shoppers pile into malls and jump online this season to cross gifts off their lists, Paul Scaini, member of the ThinkCentre desktop team, compiled his own list – a checklist of when to ditch that old PC and put a new one under the tree or in the office. Typically, our large business customers have a plan to regularly (usually every 3-5 years) upgrade their PCs. On the other hand, our small-to-medium business customers are less formal. Some keep their PCs current with the latest models while others hold on to their existing PCs as long as humanly possible. If you’re not sure whether it’s time to check your desktop into a retirement home, here are the top 10 signs your business needs new PCs.

10. Your PC makes weird sounds when it boots up. Beeps, creeks, clicks, humming or any other noises aren’t normal. You can try and listen to figure out how significant it is, but whether it’s a noisy fan or a clicking hard drive, it could be a sign of big trouble and you could risk losing your data.

9. Your hard drives are still using PATA Connectors. Seriously, PATA Connectors are two generations old. With SATA III coming soon you’re putting yourself at serious risk of a hard drive failure.

8. You don’t have the minimum specifications required for a Windows 7 upgrade. Microsoft will be cutting off XP support at the end of January 2011, so now is the perfect time to do your Windows 7 upgrade.  If your current PC can’t run it, you need to upgrade the hardware too.

7. You never turn off your PCs because rebooting just takes too long. Think of the money you’re wasting by keeping that clunker running all night. Upgrade to a new PC and you can save even more with the latest energy-efficient chipsets and CPUs.

6. You can’t upgrade your memory. You go into your local PC shop and you can’t find memory compatible with your PC.  Going online to find is isn’t worth the time, effort and money keeping this PC on life support.  It’s time to pull the plug.

5.  It lags really badly. If you can hum the entire theme song to “Jeopardy” between clicking the start button and when the menu pops up, it’s beyond a software problem and time to get a new PC.  In all that downtime, you’re losing productivity instead of working.

4. You have hardware compatibility issues after a component upgrade. You just bought a new graphic card to extend the life of your PC and now having compatibility issues?  It’s time for a new PC. Luckily, you can probably still use the new graphic card in the new PC.

3. You prefer to work/ check your emails on your smartphone. If your smartphone is faster and more convenient for you to work on than your PC, then that’s a problem.  A new desktop can be less expensive than a smartphone and much more ergonomic for working 8+ hours a day.

2. Your desktop contains any of the following legacy components: Floppy drive (3.5”, or 5.25”), an optical drive that doesn’t play DVD (or says 8x16x8), a parallel port, a TFT monitor and/or a keyboard with a trackball.

1. You are hitting the computer out of frustration. We’ve all done it at least once. No matter how many times you hit it, it will not turn into a new PC. If you’re experiencing any of these issues or identified with any of the scenarios above, it’s time you give you or your business the gift of a new PC this holiday season. Happy Holidays,