Computers: buying a bundled comp vs. building one...

[vi5]

I'm going to be in the market for a computer over the next year but still deciding which way to go. I've heard just ordering the components and having someone who knows what they are doing put it together saves you a few hundred bucks. Plus the idea of not having all that useless bundled software in there (Microsoft works?!?!?) is also appealing to me. Plus I can buy bits and pieces over time rather than shelling out one large lump sum at one time.

On the other hand the ease of just walking into a store and buying the whole thing in one fell swoop is also appealing.

What are people's thoughts (if any) on the subject.

[jimbo fett]

1. www.apple.com That's all you'll ever need (or want).

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Order one, built to your specs...

From a local provider. Support a local businessperson and get what is usually great service. Better components, too.

[vi5]

4. That's what I'm thinking. Will I save money?

Obviously it depends on the place but I'm also looking to save a little in the process.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Save rule #1:

AMD Processor.

Save Rule #2: Don't buy more computer than you need. You do NOT need the fastest processor out there. Buy at the "sweet spot" in processor prices.

Save Rule #3: You do not need a 64 bit processor.

Save Rule #4: Consider Linux as your operating system. At least consider it in a dual boot system.

Save rule #5: Unless you are a frothing gamer, the Nvidia FX5200 with 128MB of RAM is all you will need.

Save rule #6: Study, study, study. Then sit down with the designated geek and THEN order.

[midnight armadillo]

10. Amen! plus some more suggestions

I just ordered an upgrade to a work system. The Athlon 2600+ CPU is what I picked at about $95, and slower versions are as little as $65 or so. This is going to be overkill unless you're into doing image/video editing or big time number crunching for finance, science, engineering, or the like. It'll be fine for most gaming too, since the video card is the biggest factor in performance these days.

Don't skimp on RAM. It's cheap. 512 meg should be the minimum, and will be a big help if you tend to run a lot of apps at once. The upgrade I ordered has 1.5 gig of RAM, but the old computer is always running out at 512 meg since it IS used for scientific computing and RAM is a big limiting factor.

Save money by not using the new Serial ATA drives. There's a big price premium on the drives, and you also need special connectors and a suitably equipped motherboard. Again, you're not likely to notice any big benefit from this.

Consider a motherboard with tons of integrated stuff: network, sound, USB 2.0, and even video. Many moboards w/ onboard video still have an AGP slot if you decide you need faster performance.

Finally, with that geek friend by your side consider using quiet/silent fans and power supplies. A silent computer makes for a happy user.

[radwriter0555]

3. I have BOTH. I had one built in 99, and it still runs like a TOP... and

then last year, after it suffered a literal, physical crash while moving, I got frustrated and went and bought the Gateway all-in-one which I JUST LOVE. Talk about idiot proof and user friendly.

As it turns out, I don't need to know all that stuff I needed to know when I had the whomper built. So, given the options, just buy one pre-built and make sure it has what you need. Just be realistic about your computing needs.

I also have a laptop which I adore. I recently went wireless in the house and guest house, which again, was idiot proof and user friendly all the way around.

Keep it simple.. no sense in getting all complicated...

[Droopy]

6. I built my own for $750

It has:

2.0 Gig processor
256 meg of ram
40 gig hard drive
Advanced graphics card
DVD rom
burning rom
Sound system with sub-woofer
17" moniter with .22 dot pitch
printer

It's excellent for games and surfing the net. I had to spend another $500 on software. I needed to buy an operating system and Microsoft Word. So all together it's $1250 for a nice system.

[denverbill]

7. I'm more of a 'get it now' type.

This summer I bought two cheap Compaqs which had about $300 in rebates a piece. They probably cost me about $400 net each. One we mostly use for surfing, playing light games, word processing. The other I use for gaming too.

Both were underpowered on RAM at 128 meg so I added another 256 meg to each for $70 each. The graphics card and sound cards were also poor so I added those to the gaming PC, which added another 2-3 hundred.

However, that was it. Both work well and come with XP home.

Personally, I almost always tend to get a prebuilt one.

[cally]

8. I had two built at a local shop

One for my assistant and one for me. Hers was about $600 and mine was $900. I would never buy a bundled machine again. I didn't have to spend days cleaning out all the junk they install. Instead, they just installed what I wanted on the machine. I checked the price of a similar computer from Dell and Gateway and I think I saved about $300 on each machine.

[ming]

9. Wholly agree

I wholly agree that you should buy a system from a local shop. The cost differential is often minimal and can net you a nice little savings. As an earlier poster stated, you will be supporting a local business to boot! The earlier poster was also correct in saying that most likely you will be getting better components too, as local computer shops don't have to worry about chopping every penny off their costs and since they live or die by word-of-mouth, they have a natural inclination to choose the best components for the particular machine they are building.

As an added incentive, many of the large computer companies are bundling adware and spyware into their systems, preinstalled. Often in the guise of applications designed to aid their support techs when you call, but do you really know what they are reporting home, especially if you are on a broadband connection where you aren't likely to notice the slight bandwidth penalty? I have seen systems from the company of the spotted boxes where the Broadjump client and Gator were running out of the box.

Further, I would also encourage the use of Linux -- whichever distro you like best (Red Hat, Suse, etc.). Run the newest versions of the KDE or Gnome windowing environments (desktops), along with Firebird, Thunderbird and OpenOffice and you'll never go back to Windows again. If you simply have to have Microsoft Office, and a few other MS programs just buy Crossover Office and you can run it right under Linux. Did I mention not having to worry about worms and viruses? Linux i not perfect and can be a real pain-in-the-a** at times, but what isn't?

Oh, and if you're worried about hardware incompatibility in Linux, this is another reason to buy from a local shop. They will build their system so that everything just works, and you can go back to them if you want to purchase add-ons or peripherals where you can find out what will work best with your system.

[mike_c]

11. build your own....

Seriously. You can either save a bundle, or you can spend roughly the same amount of money and get a much better system. Think about it-- computer manufacturers do undercut the retail price system to some extent, but they also increase their profits by making component compromises that ultimately compromise the quality of your system.

Case in point. Four years ago I bought a Compaq Presario computer that came with Win98 SE installed, a Celeron processor, 20 Gb hard drive, a CD/DVD read only drive, a floppy drive, internal modem (a winmodem, unfortunately) and 96 Mb of RAM. I threw in a 17 inch NEC monitor, and ultimately added a hardware modem to replace the bundled software modem. The base system (computer + display) cost me about $1,400.00 four years ago.

I'm writing this reply on a newly built system with a top of the line Chaintech motherboard (i875 chipset, onboard Audigy 6.1 Dolby sound, ethernet, and so on), a hyperthreading 3.0 Ghz P4 processor, 1 Gb of dual-channel DDR-400 RAM, a gForce FX 5600 256 Mb graphics card (that was a moderate scrimp, but I'm not a gamer so I don't need a $500.00 graphics card), a CD-RW/DVD drive, dual 80 Gb hard drives, and a 19 inch ViewSonic professional series monitor. The internals are housed in a beautiful solid steel Antec case. It's a screamer that I use primarily for software development and data analysis. Total cost for the system (excepting the monitor) was less than $1,100.00, and the montor was an additional $300.00. I did pay shipping charges too, of course, but only on the monitor-- I got free shipping from the vender who sold me all the other components (I could have gotten slightly better individual prices on them by shopping them out individually but this was largely negated by the free shipping offered on the bundled lot). Total price, not counting shipping: about the same price I paid for the Compaq piece of crap four yeas ago. It cost an additional $60.00 to ship the monitor (it's a beast). I already had a copy of WinXP Pro, and of course linux is dounloadable free, so I have a dual boot VERY CAPABLE machine for essentially the same price as what could only be charitably called consumer electronics four years ago.

The moral: Build. Your. Own. It's not hard-- google "build PC" for lots more information. I had zero prior hardware experience. Putting this beast together was easy. It took a couple of evenings after work to get it built and running. I will never buy another desktop computer from a computer company again.

on edit: Oops-- full disclosure. I forgot that I'd previously purchased the two 80 Gb HD's to upgrade another system, so they were already on hand.

[scottcsmith]

12. The pros and cons:

Building your own rig:

Pros:
-- Cheaper.
-- Easier to upgrade.

Cons:
-- Different warranties on hardware, meaning some may be covered and others may not, or only be covered for a short time.
-- Cheaper parts may result in hardware failures sooner than with a brand-name model.
-- No tech support for the whole system.
-- Does not come with OS (like Windows XP) which means spending an extra $200 or so.

Buying from a company (Gateway, Alienware, etc)
Pros:
-- Entire system covered by warranty.
-- Tech support for entire system.
-- Companies like Alienware are known for the quality hardware they use.
-- System will probably come with the OS installed and other bundled software.

Cons:
-- Cost.
-- Some systems may not be easily upgradable.
-- Customer service for some companies is pretty bad.

So it really comes down to how much you can spend. Shop around, you may find a nice system in your price range.

[Wcross]

13. I bought one from cyber-power

Custom built- add or omit what you want.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/home.htm