Press

You bought the top-of-the-line computer only a couple of years ago, and now you are bombarded with computer ads from every angle telling you that your one-time “fastest, biggest, and most complete” system is now obsolete.

Such is the dilemma with many computer owners as technology continues to move at light speed. Rather than throwing out or trading in your “older” computer, Other World Computing recommends you keep it and improve it with upgrades that you can install yourself.

“After a couple of years, computer owners usually grow attached to their machines,” said Larry O’Connor. “Rather than starting from scratch with an all new system, the best option to improve a computer is to upgrade it with everything from memory to large external storage devices. At Other World Computing, our goal is to prolong the life of computers by providing a complete line of upgrade products.”

The following is list of upgrades available through OWC that will help keep your system running faster and longer, and make for great holiday gifts.

Memory
One of the best ways to improve a computer’s performance is by installing more random access memory or RAM. If you are running large applications that require a lot of the system’s resources upgrading the memory can speed up those applications allowing you to run more programs with less drain on the system. With memory price near bargain-basement levels, upgrading a computer’s memory is one of the most affordable options to prolong the life of a computer.

OWC offers several types of RAM for a variety of Apple computers, including the company’s own OWC brand.

Accelerators
If you own an Apple desktop or laptop computer, OWC offers a complete line of accelerator upgrades from a variety of manufacturers, including NewerTech, PowerLogix, XLR8, AT and its own Mercury brand. These upgrades allow you to increase the overall performance of your computer by allowing your system to process applications and requests faster.

Hard Drives
One of the most important features of any computer is its ability to store large amounts of data. Many computer systems come standard with 10GBs-40GBs of storage. With the growing interest in digital music and digital video, however, 40GBs may not be enough. OWC is recognized around the Macintosh community for its diverse Mercury line of external FireWire and FireWire/USB combo hard drives. Whether you need a desktop drive to backup your hard drive or store your digital video files, or you need a portable large capacity drive to carry a large new business presentation, OWC has several units that will match your needs.

The Mercury product line includes everything from a 200GB FireWire model to a 60GB Mercury On-The-Go solution. These external drives allow for quick transfer rates between systems and other drives, and even if you decide to buy a new computer, you will always have the extra space in the external Mercury drives for whatever you need.

OWC also offers a variety of internal hard drives for Apple desktop and laptop computers, as well as mounting kits, hard drive enclosures and other accessories to help make the upgrade process quick and painless.

DVD and CD-R
If you regularly use your current CD drive to install/run software, listen to music, etc, another upgrade option is to invest in a faster CD-ROM drive or upgrade to a CD-R or even CD-R/DVD-R combination drive. In addition to OWC’s Mercury hard drives, the company offers a Mercury CD-RW storage solution with FireWire and/or USB support, as well as a Mercury Pro DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW drive. These drives provide ideal storage solutions for large amounts of data, as well as the ability to create personalized music CDs, and make and preserve family videos.

OWC also offers a variety of CD and DVD drives from several leading manufacturers, including Pioneer, Yamaha, Plextor and TEAC.

“Even with computer prices dropping, the longer you can upgrade your existing machine to keep it doing what you need, the more you save until the time you are ready to grab the latest and greatest,” O’Connor said. “In the long run, you can come out quite a few dollars ahead by upgrading versus investing in a news system.”

All the products mentioned above are available through OWC at www.macsales.com. Apple computer owners can use the MyOWC Upgrade Center on Macsales.com (http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/index.cfm) to instantly find and order acceleration, add-on cards, memory, storage, video and other products that are compatible with their specific computer.