BUILD YOUR OWN
 

i built mine also...p4 1.8 gig...runnin 2 sticks of 512 ddr...with a 60 gig hard drive..radeon card...my best advice to anyone who intends to do the same...be really careful where you get your components...internet sites my look great as far as pricing...but if you have a problem with a cpu or motherboard...it could be a huge problem tryin to get it returned or replaced..they want your money...not your complaints...i recommend buying form a local retailer...if somthing fails...just walk in and talk to living breating human being..walk out with a new componet...may not sound important now...but could be huge later...BUYER BE WARE....BUTCHER

One instance when I will fully agree with butcher.. also your local retailer may even cut you some deals and throw in extras. Had some work done on my computer and the guy threw in a new power supply and 2 cooling fans... never know where you'll get some extra stuff.

eatitbey
 

thats a great point....you wont get any extras from a internet site...if you buy all the components at one time its very likely the retailer will throw in a few goodies...my guy did...extra fan...also gave me xp home edition for for 99.00....dont be afraid to say it like this...if i buy all these things from you right now...whats in it for me....lol...you might be surprised...BUTCHER

I bought all of my components online from reputable vendors, this is a necessity where I live because the local vendors will rape you (ex $25.00 cheapest usb cable). I have not had any problems to date.


swordfight:

I always build all my PCs and Servers

Current systems in my home all built except the raid box

My PC
P4 2.53
1 Gig RD1066
Ti4600

My video box
P4 2 gig
1 gig RD800
GF500

daughters box
AMD 1900XP
512 DDR 2100
GF2

other daughters box
AMD 2000XP
512 DDR 2100
GF2

web server
Dual P3 1gig
2 gig of ram PC133
matrox 450
Hardware raid 0,1 (4) SCSI 36Gig drives 10K rpm

ftp and file server (did not build)
NAS box
512 PC100
Hardware raid 5 (4) SCSI 36Gig drives 10K rpm
no video card

MP3 / home video file server
P3 1 gig ( dual board but only one CPU)
2 gigs PC100
Matrox g400
Hardware raid 0, 1 (2)WD120 gig IDE drives

Throw in a laptop for the wife and some other misc, boxes. here and there. and a pile of parts all over the house.


Remember static electricity is your enemy. Be very careful and use a grounded wrist strap. if you say I never had a problem, your lucky most are not.

Exactly! I can buy usb cables online for 2-3 dollars a piece. Even with shipping being $5, it is worth it. My friendly local dealer want $30 for his usb cables. They are gold plated though. oOo:

The trick is, if you buy online, make sure it is a reputable dealer (NOT flybynight.com). Some of my worst experiences were with a local dealer. Crooked, but local. I am in the process of researching building a computer and it would cost me almost twice as much to buy locally. That means if only half my stuff comes in with no problems, I still save money.

2 things:

1) Always use a credit card with online transactions, so you have recourse with the card company in recouping your hard earned cash, if someting goes wrong.

2) In the last 10 years of shopping, mostly by price, online, I've rarely run across problems. In fact, the only one that comes to mind is OCZ and their crooked and/or inept people. (subsequently disbanded, I believe)

Hoonose

A PROBLEM
 

this story is what promted this post,,,,friend of mine got a great price on a mother board,,,when he got it..inside the box it had no pink antistat wrapping...thats the first problem...he called and told them about it...they said to install it ...it was fine...it wasnt....he called again...they said send it back...he did...he called to make sure they received and how long before he got the replacement....THEY SAID....SORRY,,,,ITS BEEN USED...NO EXCHANGE OR REPLACEMENT ON USED EQUIPMENT....he bought another motherboard local,,,hes fine....most of the time when it works out...its great...when it dont...IT REALLY SUCKS...by the way...this whole story start to finish took like 3 months,,,cables and things of that nature might be fine....but if your doin motherboard and cpu...no shot i buy those things online,,,BUTCHER

For silly periphery things like cables there's no denying that online is way cheaper. But you can't beat the local guy for the big stuff ie. vid cards, mother boards and processors. Because you know exactly where that guy will be tomorrow or the next month if something craps out on you.. you don't know where that website will be or even if they'll take your stuff back.

Hey Rude you got too much money....you can send some my way.

Re: eatitbey
 

Not necessarily true. Y'all should buy online from http://www.newegg.com they have an awesome reputation. If you buy refurb items there, they adverstise them as barebones then send you all the cables and what not with em. Take a look around there...they usually have super low prices too! (honestly, I dont work for em, but do buy from em)

I guess someone has to pay retail. ed:

REFERB
 

if im going to build a new computer im not doin it with any thing that says REFERB on it,,,especially online referb...if that aint a nightmare wattin to happen i never heard one...your better off to wait until you have the money to di it right...youll be happier in the end..i cant imagine tryin to return a used motherboard or cpu,,,WOW,,,BUTCHER

Are you rich?

No, Been in this industry way too long. Also helps to have friends at certain companies.

I was gonna say the same thing. That's a crap load of money you got there for your comps rude. Hell, I'd be lucky if I could afford a $300 Video card.

I get all my stuff out of the back of this guys van. I think he's legit ed:

You sound like you're buying drugs from him or something. Make sure it's not laced or anything. biggrin:

NO no no, I get my drugs from a COMPLETELY different guy! oOo:

Garasaki buying a barebones redurbished computer is one thing. I dont think it is a good thing because in essence you're buying someone else's crappy computer that they took the guts out of and replaced. They don't give you extra stuff you pay for it. You're also sending your money out of your community. I'll keep my money in the local economy, walk in and sayhello to the man that works on my computer, take my free stuff and know that if I ever have any problems he'll fix them. Its nice to see someone that takes pride in their work and stands behind it. My tech guy called me up 5 or so days after I brought my comp. home to see how it was running.. Do you think an internest retailer would do that? I seriously doubt it.

HERE HERE EATITBEY
 

NICE POST,,,I COULDNT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MY SELF,,,SOME GUYS JUST GOTA LEARN THE HARD WAY,,,SPEND A BUCK ON LINE,,,SPEND 10 TRYIN TO GET IT BACK,,,ENOUGH SAID,,,BUTCHER

My buddy took his machine into a nice local shop that promptly charged him three times the internet price of components to get a motherboard and new video card installed witha fresh windows install. Three trips later and the computer still doesnt run right. He has to run the pc with the cover off and a fan blowing on it to keep it from overheating (he already has what should be adequate cooling). The 'friendly' local dealer basically told him too bad. And that isnt even my horror story with local dealers.

Internet dealers are local somewhere and I will damned if I will pay someone 50% more just because they are local. If you want to pay the premium just to have someone to go cuss out if you have problems, more power to you. I sure do hope the phone call you got was worth the extra hundred or so dollars you spent. If you use good dealers online or local you should be fine.

no one said to blindly trust your local dealer because let's face it there are alot of people out there who will cheat you. But it is alot harder to do when you're face to face with the person. As for the phone call...yes it was worth the extra $100 dollars that you think I might have over paid..OH except for one thing...I had this done like 4 months ago and I've done some checkin on the net and the GF3 that my local guy put in had the same price as the GF3's I saw on the net yesterday. So in short I am more then satisfied with the service and personal attention I received at my local guy. If anyone is in or around the Baton Rouge area Action-Tek is the guy to use.

YOU GOTA ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
 

when i need something i call my local guy or stop in...if your local guy is worth his salt you can talk to him a about recommending one part over another,,how it will function in your system...those sorts of things,,,again...you aint gettin that on line....as for the guy who got smoked on price...THATS HIS FALT,,,while im at the guys store i generally ask,,,HOW MUCH IS IT!!!!!!!!....before i proceed with any deal...and like eatitbey says...my guys is not all that out of line with the net deals...i guess what it all comes down to is....who your dealin with...i prefer face to face with a hand shake at the end....as opposed to a leave a message on aq machine where i know they have no intention of calling me back...a wise man once said,,,if it looks too good to be true....ITS PROBABLY NOT....BUYER BEWARE.....BUTCHER

Do whatever you want, I really dont care. All I'm saying is the same thing you are. If you do business online, its your own fault if you get smoked. Deal wth REPUTABLE businesses only. If your buddy had something shipped without packing material, then he did absolutely no research into the vendor. Dont condemn all online vendors because your buddy is an idiot. I know my buddy is an idiot when it comes to computers and that is why he got smoked by a LOCAL vendor. Local doesnt make you a good guy anymore than internet makes you bad. Local does put one more person's hands into your pocket though.

Its great that you have a local guy who is that good. What you seem to fail to realize is that you're probably one of 3 people on this forum with local dealers that good. You assume everyone else has a dealer next door who is like that or something. I know for a fact that there is not one reliable (or even compotent) computer dealer for 50 miles in any direction from my house, nor one that will charge me reasonable prices. Congratulations, but don't think everyone else is that lucky!

There are an AWFUL lot of computer illiterates out there who send back perfectly good items because they THINK that's what's wrong with their computers (when in fact it's often little more then loose cable or something like that). That means theres a lot of perfectly useful items that sit around some big computer resellers warehouse, and you can get some smokin deals on em (I was referring to individual parts, by the way, not a whole system...). And a reliable reseller will provide warrantys and replacements, even on refurbished items. Just like how you love your local dealer, I love my internet dealer because I know they will quickly exchange an item or give me my money back if I ask them too, and the parts will arrive at my door in perfect shape. I'd love to spend my money locally, but a business has to EARN my money, I'm not about to just throw it away...no local business has done so. Don't condemn me for that...its THEIR fault!

Garasaki I'm not condemning you man. In fact I'm glad to hear that you've had success buying online. As a service to the rest of us post the websites that you buy from and help the rest of us out. Maybe one day I'll need something that the website can provide cheaper then my guy. Its just most people hopped on the internet-buying bandwagon and since i've had nothing but good experiences localy I felt the need to defend local dealers. It seems you've given your local guys a shot and since they have dung for brains it is good to hear you don't support them. I think basicaly what Butcher and I are trying to say is that we prefer the face to face deal rather then the annonymous credit card transaction over the computer. We're just trying to get people unchained from their computers for a second. =0)

Leave my computer?!?!!? eek:

NEVER!!!! evil: hake:

THIS POST
 

i first did this post with the i idea of sharing a different idea about computers...didnt think it would amount to much...but i have to say ive enjoyed reading the posts and checking out the different opinions and ideas..the different loyalties to different companies...i would like to thank everyone for taking this some what serious and making this a much better post then i thought it would end up to be,,,and the way its goin,,IT AINT OVER YET..LOL..anyway...thanks again...BUTCHER

http://www.pricewatch.com - do your shopping there, and always get warantee information.

I bought all my parts off of Ebay, haven't had a hardware issue yet to date. This PC's about a year old.

Garasaki daylight doesn't hurt... well atleast not much any way.

Day...light?? eek:

I'd be real cautious with pricewatch...there are some dealers with VERY bad reputations that lower their prices a lot just to make pricewatch...and they screw a lot of poeple! Always cross reference with http://www.resellerratings.com

Cool site. Thanks for posting that. I do use pricewatch and you do need to check you vendors. For a while there were vendors that would list low prices, but would be "out of stock" until the price wasnt a bargain anymore. Paying with a credit card can really help those kinds of hassles. Cancel the order with them and let the credit card company deal with the scum.