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Reasons to build own computer?
I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near
future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself? I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the market again, I wonder if I should build my own. The reasons to build my own: * Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them. * Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers. Reasons not to build. * Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have the free time to spend tweaking a system. |
#2
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"Gus Mahler" wrote in message om... * Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can get things at a discount. That's true in a sense, but in fact you're comparing apples to oranges. You can't buy the exact computer you're going to build, anywhere at any price. If you could, there would be even less reason to build your own. See below. * Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers. Not really. We're just talking about degrees. Do you get to pick the power supply model? Do you get to pick the case? Sure, they might offer one computer with a 250w PSU and another with a 400w PSU, but that is not picking your exact power supply. Sure, you get to pick among the cases they offer, but not among *any* case. Reasons not to build. * Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have the free time to spend tweaking a system. No doubt about that. Building is for enthusiasts, not those who merely want to use computers. Having said that, the last computer I bought wouldn't boot up. We opened it up and I realized the power supply connector was not attached to the motherboard! Considering all the extra dangling power supply connectors in the case, I would not have known that unless I had put together my own computer. |
#3
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Gus Mahler wrote: I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself? I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the market again, I wonder if I should build my own. The reasons to build my own: * Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them. * Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers. Reasons not to build. * Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have the free time to spend tweaking a system. My sister has always counted on me to help her when she shops for an updated computer. Since she doesn't do any exotic things, and you cannot buy all the parts for the cost of a ready-made computer, she purchased a HP computer the last three times. No more! I discovered that first you no longer receive a CD with the software that has been installed (they use a partition on the HD), and they even make it difficult (not impossible) to clone the drive so that you have a backup. Their HELP service in this regard is useless, in that they don't want to discuss the topic. Now I realize that much of this is due to paying MS a lesser fee for the operating system, but you are really at the mercy of the manufacturer when you buy a ready made computer. Put that together with the non-standard hardware they often use, and you might as well throw it out when you have a failure if it is no longer under warrantee. It will cost you so much to repair, you are better off buying a new one. From now on I am going to recommend she have one custom made, even if it costs more. |
#4
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Gus Mahler wrote:
Reasons not to build. * Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have the free time to spend tweaking a system. ::BOGGLE:: Even if you don't build it yourself, you still have to tweak it! Don't you? |
#5
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"Gus Mahler" wrote in message om... I will be upgrading or buying or building a new computer in the near future. Are there any more reasons to build a computer myself? I've built the last 3 computers I have, and I had a good experience with 2 of them. The third was a pain to get correct, as I had to spend so much time tweaking things to get it working. Now that I am in the market again, I wonder if I should build my own. The reasons to build my own: * Cheaper?--not really. The manufacturers buy things in bulk and can get things at a discount. In pricing everything, it seems that the prices are about even between buying and building. If I were upgrading only, it would be cheaper to build, because I could re-use certain peripherals. Unfortunately, the various optical drives and video cards that I have are so old that it is pointless to keep them. * Flexibility with components--This is true compared to Dell or a computer from Best Buy. Those computers are preconfigured and I have to take them as they are, no matter what I would prefer to do. But I was just looking at the Falcon Northwest site, and they seem to have so many different options, that I am not really locked into a certain configuration. Same with Alienware and other manufacturers. considering that you've built a few before i can't imagine why you'd buy one pre-built there is hardly any assurance it would be configured correctly a while back i was in a new computer store and wanted to see what a hi-end machine was like... my old one at home worked much better... when i hit control-alt-delete they had a few dozen apps all loading at start-up... ....not that you could not sort that out...but if you build it yourself you'd get *exactly* what you want! |
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#8
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Gus Mahler wrote:
* Ease. The computer will (hopefully) come pre-tested, with Windows already loaded. I won't have to spend a portion of my day formatting hard drives and installing Windows like I did before. And everything will (hopefully) work properly, so I won't have to tweak things to get things right. Just plug and play. Now that I'm in the real world (as opposed to college) and also have a child, I don't feel like I have the free time to spend tweaking a system. Well now that you are "in the real world" I would hope you'd realize your idea that -everying will work right- is a joke! How many hours are you willing to spend on hold waiting for tech support you paid for to then be asked questions like "Is it plugged into the wall?", talking to a person on the other end who has no idea what a bios setting is or what ram does. -- Stacey |
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