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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 |
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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
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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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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
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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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