ToolPackinMama said:
I do the same. One nice thing about homebuilt is you can pay for one or
more components at a time, instead of having to commit to paying for
everything all at once. You can buy your mobo/cpu/ram/case to start with
(under 300.00 USD), and just use any crap drives that you had in your
old system, to start with. As soon as you can afford it, you
buy/install better/faster drives, better video card, and etc.
Plus, when you build your own, you can upgrade/fix your own at will.
You don't have to stand, hat in hand, and beg some "approved" tech to
see to it. It's so nice to not have to send your box away for a week or
two when it needs something. "Tech support" is over-rated. All it
really is, is a contract to let their approved techs work on your box,
when you could do it yourself, instead.
To me it's no bargain to pay 2000.00 USD for a system that I can't
upgrade or repair myself. For a thousand dollars less, I get a machine
that I am free to monkey with at will.
BTW, the privacy/security issue is huge for me. I don't want some
teen-techie playing with the sensitive, personal data that is on my HD.
I would rather deal with my PC hardware issues myself, than entrust my
precious, and very personal computer to some stranger.
I'm late to the discussion, and probably won't tell anybody here
anything they don't already know, but:
My progession through PCs has been from mass market retail (HP, when
they were still HP) to local custom builder (used two different
ones...both took the time to ask smart questions about my user needs and
price points) to building my own.
The homebuilt decision was a natural progression..once you've added some
RAM, replaced a NIC or other internal components, it's not a big leap to
building your own. There are plenty of potential pitfalls, but with
enought research, reading and talking with your tech savvy network, it's
quite do-oable.
I would argue that unless you are designing for a rock bottom price
point (which you can do...but which I wouldn't because of some
requirements I wouldn't care to compromise on) then homebuilts generally
are not a huge moneysaveer.
That said, dollar for dollar, it's almost a sure thing that you will get
more performance and (assuming a good build!) greater reliabilty and
embedded upgradability than a store-bought machine of the same price.
Here's why I'll continue to build my own, and why I recommend this path
to others:
-No proprietary or uneeded crap. Whether its hardware (as in the case of
Dell's non-standard power supplies) or software we are talking about,
you get things that you know can be serviced --or that you actually
need. I am astounded at the amount of useless apps delivered on retail
machines that seem mostly designed to sell other stuff via arrangements
with their "trusted partners". This absence of crap on the machine makes
maintentance and repair easier in the long run.
-Custimization: You end up with what you need, not what the retailer is
trying to push out the door. The margins for PCs and PC hardware are
incredibly thin...you never know where the weak spots are in the systems
they put together for you.
-Asthetics. I know what I want my cases to look like, because I know
where they will live! I also know that it's the skin on my hands at risk
when I start poking around in there, so I can make sure I get one that
will accomodate them!
--Overall value. The usual suspects can probably sell me cheaper than I
can build. We may end up with common components that they can certainly
buy cheaper than I can. But they are getting there by unloading a lot of
low end parts on unsuspecting --or uninformed-- consumers, and playing
games with rebates or (less common these days) tying your discount to
service with an ISP. Buying a PC is hard enough decision...you shouldn't
be forced into another relationship at the same time.
--Self education. I still like to look in Best Buy, Circuit City,
CompUSA....and will go there for the occaisional time sensitive
component purchase. My experience in homebuilding lets me walk in there
completely unintimidated. I enjoy listening to the "advice" given to
customers by the sales staff, and sometimes will clarify the
"information" they have provided once they've moved on to another mark.
Our home machines are free of bloatware, proprietary compents, service
plans. Regular data backups and modests knowledge of the relationships
between the parts make our computing worry free....what a terrific
return on investment!
If a user is not comfortable oustide of the "support" network of a mass
market retailer, then homebuilding isn't a good choice. As PCs become
commodity items, I've been underwhelmed by the abilities of these
retailers to both give good (or even honest!) advice at purchase time
and keep their stuff running. I'd simply rather do it myself!
