It is upgrade time and I am looking for some direction, I want to:
surf the web, burn DVD’s, backup my Palm and print photographs (I have a Sony cd burner camera), I am not a game guy. So should I go to a superstore and buy a “box o’puter”, or have a clone built for me at a computer supply?.
I want a large monitor, a photo quality printer and a wireless keyboard/mouse but I am freaked out about compatability so I have been looking at the superstore “computer in a box” deal but those deals always turn into big money (upgrades) and it pisses me off because they start off cheap.
unclviny
Those “computer in a box” deals cause the most incompatiblity problems. Those are the products you need to stay the hell away from.
When you get a clone computer built for you, you have the luxury of specifying each and every piece that goes into it. If you’re not knowledgeable enough, you can solicit recommendations. You can ask the guy to put the thing together and do a one or two day burn-in – the running of processor-intensive tasks continuously, in order to ensure that the machine holds up under stress. This is standard procedure with clones and they will happily accomodate you. Try getting that sort of service from Dell. Ain’t gonna happen.
Eh, I’d go with Dell. (Well, I’d build my own. In your shoes, I’d go with Dell.)
You’re not looking for anything fancy and you should be able to go with a fairly basic config. from Dell - the DVD burner would probably be the only thing you’d need to change from the default config. This should make it more stable and cheaper than a comp-in-a-box from your large retail chains (a lot of whom use HP/Compaqs - yuck).
This is assuming that your “computer supply” store are the types that advertise in the free, weekly papers in your area. I can’t speak for all of them, but the computers built by those companies in LA, Honolulu, and Seattle all tend to cut corners when it comes to the motherboards they use, tending to use products with either lackluster, bad, or no reputations.
And there are few things, hardware-wise, more likely to give you an unstable system than a flaky motherboard.
My suggestion: build it yourself. As long as you have all the parts and a bootable OS disk, a trained monkey can do it these days.
If home-brewed isn’t an option, go with a computer supply store, or better yet, an Alienware if you have the dough. I’d trust them over Dell any day.
However, rumor has it that AMD will start producing 64 bit processors in Septemeber. When that happens, expect to see a significant drop in the price of current 32 bit processors. In short: wait till fall if you’re picking out the parts yourself.
I used to build my own computers. Nowadays though, I’d prefer to buy something off-the-shelf, just for the customer support. While I’ve typically been able to fix my desktop computer problems, it was often way too much of a hassle.