Buy it or Build it?

Im Posting this thread to see what the majority of the people have.

Just tell us how you feel about buying a computer and building a computer and which you think is better.

And please tell us the stats of the built or brought or planning to build or buy computer.

Thanks.

 

Build it...

Build #1:
PIII 450
512 MB RAM
ASUS P2B-F Mobo
20 GB Western Digital / 40 GB Maxtor 3000LE External USB Device
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400
Creative CD5233E CD-ROM
Plextor CD-R PX-W1610A CD-RW
KDS VS-195e Monitor


Build #2:
P4 2.0 GHz
ASUS P4B266-C Mobo
1.0 GB RAM
20 GB Western Digital / 60 GB Western Digital / 80 GB Maxtor 5000LE External USB Device
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 128 MB Video adapter
Creative SoundBlaster PCI128
LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-851S
LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163D
DELL P1110 Monitor
Lian Li Case

Build #3:
Minimum P4 3.0 GHz
Still figuring the rest

 

dobhar--

I also am planning to get a new PC.
Why both and not just the DVDRW (which I assume is +/-)?

 

Build it yourself. It's less expensive, you get what you want, and you will know your machine, in and out. The BBS has better tech support than you can buy!

Johanna

 

Jim...What Steve said...

Don't know if clear but my Build1 and Build2 are my existing PC's right now...Build3 will be my next adventure in new toys

 

After buying my Aptiva back in 1996 and seeing what a pain it was to upgrade things like the video card, I made up my mind I would build my own. As far as getting help with a problem I could not work out on my own I used boards like this one. When I had a problem with my Aptiva, IBM answer was put in your recovery CD. I have built 5 systems. Some were for me and others were for family members. The last was about a year and half ago for my brother. He wanted it mainly to do video and photo editing. Reason for having two recorders was that way I would not have to copy a CD to the hard drive then to a CD. Just go from CD to CD.

ATI All-In-Wonder 7500 for video
External US Robotics Serial Modem
External USB Floppy
External Sony DRX-510UL DVD/RW
Lite-on LTR-32123S CD/RW
Adaptec USB 2.0 Card / Firewire Card
Creative Labs Audigy Platinum eX for sound
WD 120 GB hard drive
Soltek SL-75DRV5 Mainboard
2000+ AMD CPU
1536 MB of memory
Antec Case & 400 watt power supply
Samsung LCD Monitor
Epson 3200 Pro scanner
Epson 740 printer
Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse
Cambridge Sound Works for speakers

 

Well honestly for me building is really night because u can find great deals going around and in the out come its probably cheaper. But building is really only ment for people who know what they are doing (due to the fact that some things just dont work with others).

Buying one is good for people who really dont know the internal workings of one. At that point i say find some geeks and ask them for help

NeoSpawn

 

The only argument that I know of for buying a brandname PC is that upfront, at that instant in time, you can save money. Or, of course, you're not mechanically adept. But over the long haul you will:

- save a lot money by doing incremental upgrades with parts that have dropped drastically in price.
- learn a ton about troubleshooting PCs.
- be able to customize your PC exactly as you want it by cherry-picking your parts.
- be able to build cheap PCs for others in your family with hand-me-down parts from your PC.
- you'll no longer be a slave to misbehaving PCs (hardware-wise anyway )

The actual building of a PC is quite simple. There are just a few things that can trip you up - and they're not rocket science. Plus, there's a zillion people out on the net who are more than willing to help.

Gary

 

I like to buy then build

When I start on a new computer I usually start by buying a barebone system then I start to add the other components. It must just be me but it seems easier to do it that way. Dont have to mess with getting a case, mobo, processor and it comes already assembled.

 

If you are getting the computer for a network you are managing - buy it. It's worth it for the 3rd party support and better reliability.

If you are not too bothered about performance, just want a cheap computer - buy it. There isn't too much to save with self build (at least in the UK).

If this is your first computer buy this one, think about building the second one.

If you enjoy building things and will get satifaction from using "your" computer - Build.

If you have a specific requirement or want to squeeze every ounce out of the system - Build.

 

Saving money building your own isn't necessarily a given these days. It depends what you're building and what you need.

Sometimes Dell offers fantastic deals that I can't touch. Sometimes I can get close. My bother's employer was going to give him a very discounted XP Pro and Office XP Pro. That's something to work with.

I'm partial to Dell because they hand out a full version of Windows that could be used for upgrading.

 

RayH has said

Maybe RayH means (as he said) that you can "upgrade" what Dell installs but you get only a Product Recovery CD which would require a HD reformat (erase everything else) in the event of a complete disaster in order to just reinstall the OS that Dell installed?
Would like to hear some actual experience, specific to recent Dell purchases involving WinXP Home. Thanks.

 

My daughter bought a Dell laptop (XP Pro) July 03. It came with a recovery disk and a regular Windows XP disk. A friend of mine purchased a new Dell with XP home on it and just received it last week. It too came both a recovery disk and a Windows disk. What more can I say?

 

Many different flavors of pc's out there. MPO, buy or build one you can add to. I'd stay away from what is considered low profile ones. Give me a BIG fat tower. Min 4 glowing internal fans and glowing IDE cables. Maybe even a water cooled one One can load it up until you run outa power plugs. Be sure the power supply can handle it all

Gateway, whatever. when was the last time you tried getting tech support over the phone? They tell you, recorded message, to go to their web sites. Faster response. Well that's great if my pc was working

 

Can't get any more computer illiterate than me, especially when I first bought a brand name. Built my next one and wouldn't give anything for the experience and the satisfaction of using something I know something about now and not afraid(well, to a point) to go in and rip and tear and reinstall stuff. Software is my downfall or weakest link.

 

Build it

Learned the hard way with customer support on a pre built system and working out the bugs for friends/family on their Compaq's and Dell's.
Customer service is usually a call centre location half way around the world where all roads lead to a restore/format if it can't be handled in 3 minutes or less. Thse folks are monitored for quantity not quality.
Built my own system a year ago, studied hard and shopped harder. I stayed about 9-12 months behind the curve and believe I did a solid job as I was able to re use my optical's, HD,sound, floppy and video card.
Total upgrade cost for processor,mobo,case and memory was approx $225.00 USD after rebates.
The experience was invaluable and so is the sense of accomplishment and confidence I have in my system and abilities.
Oh yeah, it was incredibly simple. As a friend of mine said "after you build one, your the expert "
2.0 P4
Soyo p45 lite Mobo
512+256 2700 Kingston ddr
52* Cd rom
Cd burner
G4 ti 4200
Standard atx case 350 watt PS
80 GB Maxtor 7200rpm
Sound blaster live

 

Welshjim The first disk of the Dell Restore is a full OEM version of Windows XP, which require a Dell Product Key. OEM licenses do not allow for transfer. But this OEM disk will sustain a "total" upgrade, including motherboard. Others have been able to reactivate from Microsoft with their total upgrades. Partially for that reason Dell may not be totally undesireable.

In overall, against a self-build, Dell may or may not be an undesireable deal depending upon what a person needs and what Dell is offering.

Last month the better units were tossing in a 17" LCD monitor, all in one printer, decent speakers, free shipping, no tax (in Calif) plus one year in home warranty. No way I could touch that. The tax was worth $85.

It's like a barebones that wasn't so bare. But if one didn't need all of the monitors, etc. Self building would be better.

But this month, the deal isn't the same. I can match Dell.

 

RayH--

I have understood from what you have said that if it necessary to reinstall the OS, the Dell CD will permit this without reformatting the entire hard drive. Do you confirm?
So often, what PC makers supply as the OS CD is a "Product Recovery" CD which restores the entire hard drive back to the way it was when the PC left the factory--wiping all your personal files and other installed programs. These Product Recovery CD's are a full version of the OS and have Product Keys. But they are not capable of just reinstalling only the OS but rather have the reformatting function built in.
Please confirm which version of the OS CD you got. Thanks!!
P.S. A related question for you or others who know. If indeed the Dell OS CD is only a Product Recovery CD, is it possible to install a full WinXP OS (of course from a separately purchased retail CD) without disturbing the other software on the hard drive?