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Advice on Buying a new Computer



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 22nd 03, 11:04 PM
John Smith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Advice on Buying a new Computer

As stupid as it sounds but a game coming out in November or later might need
a video card which does not even exist today!

That happened a few times with various versions of Quake. I remember
ordering one version along with a mate and we both had to order the latest
3DFX card with Open GL at the same time.

If the game is the reason you are upgrading I would wait until it comes out
personally. You may find many current cards do not work with it.


J.


"The Berzerker" wrote in message
...
ah, that's a pretty good point. I guess I should wait then...

You'll hear from me at christmas!

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly Apart!
"Stacey" wrote in message
...
The Berzerker wrote:

Hello. I've recently been pushed to buy a new system by the prospect

of
Half-life 2. I'm wondering if you guys can help me out...

Do you guys have any recommendations as to which on-line stores to buy
from? I'm looking for pretty fast components for the cheapest prices
around.



Wait. Since these games are 6 months away, much will change between now

and
then and what is "bleeding edge" now will be "discount" parts then.
Especially AMD chips as their prices drop like a rock about 3 months

after
they are released. I'll bet by Xmas you can buy a XP3000 for $50!

--

Stacey





  #2  
Old June 23rd 03, 01:59 AM
Stacey
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

JK wrote:



Stacey wrote:

The Berzerker wrote:

Hello. I've recently been pushed to buy a new system by the prospect of
Half-life 2. I'm wondering if you guys can help me out...

Do you guys have any recommendations as to which on-line stores to buy
from? I'm looking for pretty fast components for the cheapest prices
around.


Wait. Since these games are 6 months away, much will change between now
and then and what is "bleeding edge" now will be "discount" parts then.
Especially AMD chips as their prices drop like a rock about 3 months
after they are released. I'll bet by Xmas you can buy a XP3000 for $50!


Not quite, although $150 might be possible. The Athlon 64 will be in
great demand then.



Wanna put some money on it? Look at what the $300+ dollar AMD chips 6 months
ago are selling for today. Most are under $75.

--

Stacey
  #3  
Old June 23rd 03, 12:11 PM
Jonathan Eales
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I subsidise my computer hobby by building and selling PCs. Also the
challenge to see 'how low can you go in price' to build a reasonable
computer that is marketable. By the time you have selected the components,
purchased at non-trade prices, spent at least two hours in putting the thing
together and loaded some software, advertise in the local paper and then
show the customers, and often install in their homes all out of 20% margin,
say £50=$70.

It is fun to do, but I'm glad I don't have to earn my bread from it. With
the major UK vendors like DELL, Mesh, Time and Watford doing good deals at
the £250-£500 ($350-700) range which includes warranty, telephone support,
etc. I would recommend most people to buy from them. If you want to build a
dream machine, like a challenge and want to take a bit of a risk then
building it yourself is fun and rewarding.

Also buyers are getting educated and want CD writers, better sound, DRY
memory, etc. I built a perfectly good PC with a Duran processor a month ago
and was told by potential customer's that as it wasn't an Athol (even at a
lower clock speed) it wasn't good enough! As if they could tell the
difference using it?

Jonathan


"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Jonathan,

Not much money in making and selling PCs in the UK then? Why is that? You
can't generate enough profit margin? Customers too picky and keep coming
back? Takes too much time to build them?

Just curious,


J.

"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
I've been buying low cost components from places like ebuyer and dabs,
building PCs and selling them via free classified ads in the local paper

for
a couple of months. I've realised that you don't really make much money

and
everyone always has a hassle that requires you to spend extra time on

it.
So
what are the advantages of building your own system over just buying one
online?

You can specify the best and/or cheapest components to use.
You learn how to fix small problems. Major ones will require you to
diagnose and return the offending part(s).
You run a risk of buying incompatible parts, looking for driver

revisions,
etc.
You can re-use existing components like floppy disk drives and CD-ROMs.
Though you might want to sell the old system as it is.
You can use your old operating system.
Personal success factor in this major achievement.

Buying online from Mesh, DELL, Time, etc.
You can easily specify the items and capacities that you want.
It has the latest version operating system bundled in (whether you want

it
or not!) A cheap upgrade though.
It has at least a year's warranty.
It (generally) works first time, right out of the box.
You get telephone support when things go wrong. (Just re-format your

hard
drive sir!)
The components match each other in colour and style.
You don't worry about overheating and stuff.

I build, fix and repair computers for other people but my own system is

a
latest model DELL which looks great and always works! Kerr-plunk!

Jonathan




"The Berzerker" wrote in message
...
****, i almost forgot, I live in the UK.

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly Apart!
"The Berzerker" wrote in message
...
Hello. I've recently been pushed to buy a new system by the prospect

of
Half-life 2. I'm wondering if you guys can help me out...

Do you guys have any recommendations as to which on-line stores to

buy
from?
I'm looking for pretty fast components for the cheapest prices

around.

Another few things, I haven't bought much hardware since my other pc

which
is now extremely outdated (550Mhz, ATI Rage 128 etc) Are there any

highly
recommended components around? AMD or Intel, how different is the

radeon
9800 to the 9500? Just general stuff like that...

any help would be great, thanks for your time..

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly

Apart!










  #4  
Old June 23rd 03, 12:46 PM
John Smith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks, what about the higher end of the market?

J.

"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
I subsidise my computer hobby by building and selling PCs. Also the
challenge to see 'how low can you go in price' to build a reasonable
computer that is marketable. By the time you have selected the

components,
purchased at non-trade prices, spent at least two hours in putting the

thing
together and loaded some software, advertise in the local paper and then
show the customers, and often install in their homes all out of 20%

margin,
say £50=$70.

It is fun to do, but I'm glad I don't have to earn my bread from it. With
the major UK vendors like DELL, Mesh, Time and Watford doing good deals at
the £250-£500 ($350-700) range which includes warranty, telephone support,
etc. I would recommend most people to buy from them. If you want to build

a
dream machine, like a challenge and want to take a bit of a risk then
building it yourself is fun and rewarding.

Also buyers are getting educated and want CD writers, better sound, DRY
memory, etc. I built a perfectly good PC with a Duran processor a month

ago
and was told by potential customer's that as it wasn't an Athol (even at a
lower clock speed) it wasn't good enough! As if they could tell the
difference using it?

Jonathan


"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Jonathan,

Not much money in making and selling PCs in the UK then? Why is that?

You
can't generate enough profit margin? Customers too picky and keep coming
back? Takes too much time to build them?

Just curious,


J.

"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
I've been buying low cost components from places like ebuyer and dabs,
building PCs and selling them via free classified ads in the local

paper
for
a couple of months. I've realised that you don't really make much

money
and
everyone always has a hassle that requires you to spend extra time on

it.
So
what are the advantages of building your own system over just buying

one
online?

You can specify the best and/or cheapest components to use.
You learn how to fix small problems. Major ones will require you to
diagnose and return the offending part(s).
You run a risk of buying incompatible parts, looking for driver

revisions,
etc.
You can re-use existing components like floppy disk drives and

CD-ROMs.
Though you might want to sell the old system as it is.
You can use your old operating system.
Personal success factor in this major achievement.

Buying online from Mesh, DELL, Time, etc.
You can easily specify the items and capacities that you want.
It has the latest version operating system bundled in (whether you

want
it
or not!) A cheap upgrade though.
It has at least a year's warranty.
It (generally) works first time, right out of the box.
You get telephone support when things go wrong. (Just re-format your

hard
drive sir!)
The components match each other in colour and style.
You don't worry about overheating and stuff.

I build, fix and repair computers for other people but my own system

is
a
latest model DELL which looks great and always works! Kerr-plunk!

Jonathan




"The Berzerker" wrote in message
...
****, i almost forgot, I live in the UK.

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly

Apart!
"The Berzerker" wrote in message
...
Hello. I've recently been pushed to buy a new system by the

prospect
of
Half-life 2. I'm wondering if you guys can help me out...

Do you guys have any recommendations as to which on-line stores to

buy
from?
I'm looking for pretty fast components for the cheapest prices

around.

Another few things, I haven't bought much hardware since my other

pc
which
is now extremely outdated (550Mhz, ATI Rage 128 etc) Are there any
highly
recommended components around? AMD or Intel, how different is the

radeon
9800 to the 9500? Just general stuff like that...

any help would be great, thanks for your time..

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly

Apart!












  #5  
Old June 23rd 03, 04:48 PM
John Smith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Interesting Jonathan - thanks for the input. A friend and I were thinking of
building custom made PCs for things like OCing, Video, etc. Good to hear
your views on things.

J.


"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
Fine, no problem if you can build to order. The risks of not selling
otherwise become more expensive. Manufactures like DELL and Mesh can put
together quality PCs at a great price. Presumably they make more money

with
the bigger systems, but for me the competition is greater and offer more
differentiators. Do you notice how these companies pitch their products
into ranges and fixed price bands to attract specific consumers. The £499
for a basic PC, the £699 for better everything, the £999 for everything

with
it, and the £1,199 for the dream specification. Not matter what the
specifications are the price bands and presumably margins remain the same.

So I'm left with the low-end and specific applications such as games,

video
editing to build PCs.

Satisfying but not profitable.

Jonathan

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Thanks, what about the higher end of the market?

J.

"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
I subsidise my computer hobby by building and selling PCs. Also the
challenge to see 'how low can you go in price' to build a reasonable
computer that is marketable. By the time you have selected the

components,
purchased at non-trade prices, spent at least two hours in putting the

thing
together and loaded some software, advertise in the local paper and

then
show the customers, and often install in their homes all out of 20%

margin,
say £50=$70.

It is fun to do, but I'm glad I don't have to earn my bread from it.

With
the major UK vendors like DELL, Mesh, Time and Watford doing good

deals
at
the £250-£500 ($350-700) range which includes warranty, telephone

support,
etc. I would recommend most people to buy from them. If you want to

build
a
dream machine, like a challenge and want to take a bit of a risk then
building it yourself is fun and rewarding.

Also buyers are getting educated and want CD writers, better sound,

DRY
memory, etc. I built a perfectly good PC with a Duran processor a

month
ago
and was told by potential customer's that as it wasn't an Athol (even

at
a
lower clock speed) it wasn't good enough! As if they could tell the
difference using it?

Jonathan


"John Smith" wrote in message
...
Jonathan,

Not much money in making and selling PCs in the UK then? Why is

that?
You
can't generate enough profit margin? Customers too picky and keep

coming
back? Takes too much time to build them?

Just curious,


J.

"Jonathan Eales" wrote in message
...
I've been buying low cost components from places like ebuyer and

dabs,
building PCs and selling them via free classified ads in the local

paper
for
a couple of months. I've realised that you don't really make much

money
and
everyone always has a hassle that requires you to spend extra time

on
it.
So
what are the advantages of building your own system over just

buying
one
online?

You can specify the best and/or cheapest components to use.
You learn how to fix small problems. Major ones will require you

to
diagnose and return the offending part(s).
You run a risk of buying incompatible parts, looking for driver
revisions,
etc.
You can re-use existing components like floppy disk drives and

CD-ROMs.
Though you might want to sell the old system as it is.
You can use your old operating system.
Personal success factor in this major achievement.

Buying online from Mesh, DELL, Time, etc.
You can easily specify the items and capacities that you want.
It has the latest version operating system bundled in (whether you

want
it
or not!) A cheap upgrade though.
It has at least a year's warranty.
It (generally) works first time, right out of the box.
You get telephone support when things go wrong. (Just re-format

your
hard
drive sir!)
The components match each other in colour and style.
You don't worry about overheating and stuff.

I build, fix and repair computers for other people but my own

system
is
a
latest model DELL which looks great and always works! Kerr-plunk!

Jonathan




"The Berzerker" wrote in

message
...
****, i almost forgot, I live in the UK.

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now Fly

Apart!
"The Berzerker" wrote in

message
...
Hello. I've recently been pushed to buy a new system by the

prospect
of
Half-life 2. I'm wondering if you guys can help me out...

Do you guys have any recommendations as to which on-line

stores
to
buy
from?
I'm looking for pretty fast components for the cheapest prices
around.

Another few things, I haven't bought much hardware since my

other
pc
which
is now extremely outdated (550Mhz, ATI Rage 128 etc) Are there

any
highly
recommended components around? AMD or Intel, how different is

the
radeon
9800 to the 9500? Just general stuff like that...

any help would be great, thanks for your time..

--



The Berzerker
By Nature's Hand, By Crafts, By Art, What Once Was One, Now

Fly
Apart!
















 




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