Why build when......

[lee101]

buying high-end PCs can save you money but if you want a decent cheap comp, Dell and others cant be beat since you can get an entire computer with monitor and OS for really cheap.

I have to agree with that, in the UK you can buy a dell for £199, including xp home and a 17 inch monitor, when you are talking budget it is very hard to get a better/equivalent machine for the same price or cheaper, the advantage that large companies that dell have is they can buy stuff in bulk, therefore get the components cheaper. Although i think from now on, now i know i have the ability and confidence to build my own pc i will never go prebuilt, even if it is more expensive, it is just a great feeling of achievemnet when you put all the parts in, install the os and it works, your very own custom pc, also you don't have all the crap software that loads of prebuilt computers come with, like internet trials.

If you build yourself you get exactly what youu want, a great sense of achievement and probably a far better pc with the stuff that you want, not the cheapest crap available at the time

Lee

 

[Praetor]

when one is spending so much anyway, why not just buy one from them, with them to stand behind it and warranty ?

Ask that question a few months down the road when you want to upgrade

Building isnt just cheaper

Correct, it's not only cheaper you're getting a better machine.

You won't save a dime by building one yourself.

If you get what teh OEMs get you will save money ... but of course, since you were prepared to spend $x, you will still spend that money and get a significantly better box

Yes I agree you dont save money but wouldnt you rather have something you put together to brag

The original post appeals to low budget builders/buyers -- people with lower budgets usually dont build to brag

Yes, they may use the newest processor

But you'll never know because they never give out product serials numbers

Building your own is not cheaper but you sure end up with a better computer for the money and a much better warranty plus all the other benefits previously mentioned.

You get a better warranty when you build your own?

thanks apj i have looked at them hundreds of times over the past few weeks. it was kind of overwhelming at first but now its all starting to sink in. theres just so many choices once one starts to deviate from those list.

Which is why i made that list ... if you get confused deviating from the list (meaning you've not completely got that list down pat yet) then you try and stick to the list. If you understand everything then deviate as you see fit (although if you understand, odds are you'll only be making minor changes to the entires)

 

[Arctic388]

exactly right. again thanks.

 

[flush01]

I'm in the same boat as you (kinda of). I'm about to build by first machine too. I too have done research non-stop for the past few weeks and went into this thinking I can do it cheaper and soon found out I was wrong. However, I DO believe that it is cheaper in the long run. From what I understand and the experiences I've had in the past, thiers only so much upgrading you can do w/ a pre-built. If you build it, and it's time to upgrade, you can do WHATEVER you want to upgrade it.....$300 and you've got a new machine. Or piece-meal it as you go and always have an up-to-date machine. The monitor is one of the most expensive parts and you shouldn't need to replace it THAT frequently. At least, that's my theory - like I said, I'm new at this too.

Good luck, I know I'll be needing it.


My Build:
ASUS A8N-SLI NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
AMD 64 X2 4400+
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply
eVGA Geforce 6800GS 256-P2-N386-AX Video Card

wow, i actually ordered exact same parts a week ago... cant wait when it gets here

 

[dazbizkit]

Ok lets get this clear, Dell suck, big time. im on my way to create my first custom pc. it is what i want and how i want it, ive even customised it down to fan guards and thumb screws .

I felt very satisfied when i upgraded my current pc with a new PSU, graphics card and some RAM. and if i felt that satisfied doing that, imagine how satisfied you will be building a whole pc from scratch.

Ive also had gander at Alienware's pcs. they are very nice rigs internally and externally but the pc im going to build is twice as good for round-about the same price. if that isnt value for money then i dont know what is!

BUILD YOUR OWN PC, DONT BUY PREBUILT!

DOWN WITH PREBUILT, DOWN WITH PREBUILT!!