Well, it depends – mostly on who you’re asking! A department store salesman will always recommend a new one, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty with a trained technician, you’ll often discover you have more (and cheaper) options than you thought.

Your old computer is beginning to slow down. So, you invest in a shiny new laptop. The clouds part and the sun shines down on this bright and lovely new device. Everything will be faster and easier. Only, from the first day, the new laptop is lagging. Why is it running so slow? One of these might be the reason.

Last week, there were numerous reports that several major antivirus companies have been hacked. It’s all revealed now – Russian hackers breached Symantec (Norton Antivirus), TrendMicro, and McAfee products used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. TrendMicro, in particular, is very popular in New Zealand. If you bought your computer from Noel Leeming, chances are, you are using TrendMicro for your antivirus.

Like most people, you probably receive dozens or more of unwanted email messages daily. Advertisements of weight loss products, unclaimed money that you won, fake jewellery and watches, and even attempts to steal your bank account passwords!

Have you heard the term ransomware? It is a particularly nasty type of computer virus. Instead of stealing data or money from victims, the virus takes control of computers and scrambles every single document, picture, video and email.

This week's topic is rather morbid but it's something that all of us should consider, in addition to having written wills, estate planning, and life insurance. We recently had a few customers asking us for help with devices belonging to their incapacitated and deceased relatives.