# How do y'all buy computers nowadays? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637 "2019-05-07T21:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/41 "2019-05-09T08:18:36Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I also want to get back into creating embroidery designs, which uses programs like Inkscape. So I need a little better than average graphics processing, but not hardcore-gamer level. > > I do plan on doing the dual-monitor thing. Work has spoiled me A dual monitor set-up will affect what graphics processor you need. You might not need anything super powerful but AFAIK, dual monitors can tax some lesser graphics cards. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/42 "2019-05-09T08:29:34Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I go to my friendly neighborhood computer geek brother and have him build it for me. He knows what all the high end parts are and how they fit together, so when I do get the itch to game then _ **by god** _ the machine will game. Last time I didn’t have time to do this and my situation called for a bloody-high-end laptop\*, so I asked my friendly guildies who know their hardware better than I do to recommend gaming brands (the recommendations obtained happened to match what I thought based on time spent window-shopping, but they might have known some source I didn’t), spent some time playing with the configurators of the two brands recommended, and then bought from Amazon because Amazon is capable of invoicing Spain for articles sent to France (neither of the two brands could do this last part, nor could other sites my mates recommend for online purchases). The desktop itself was from a place which builds high-end computers, most of their customers are government facilities and server farms, but they offered small boxes at a time when everybody else was on the box-as-dick-substitute train. It’s 7 years old and I’ve needed to change a couple of parts but both times the guy who did the change commented on how the “little box” was a damn good design; according to the guy who changed the original SSD I’d actually gotten more mileage out of it than most people. I’m happy with it even if it’s wifi-cranky. - on location for over a year and my desktop computer didn’t like the house’s wifi ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/43 "2019-05-09T08:33:07Z")
heh … ask this on [gamefaqs.com](http://gamefaqs.com) PC board and post here what they say …can find anything that exists … ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/44 "2019-05-09T08:38:54Z")
missed the edit:heh … ask this on [gamefaqs.com](http://gamefaqs.com)’s PC board and post here what they say …they can find lots of stuff… and most of it dirt cheap ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/45 "2019-05-09T09:26:06Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Does pixel pitch come into this somewhere? Yes. The smaller the pixel the finer the text, and the finer the text the nicer it is to read. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/46 "2019-05-09T13:14:24Z")
Forgot to mention the advantage of just upgrading parts in a “desktop” PC over time: The old parts go into my #2 computer, and that boxes’ parts go into to #3 computer and the next parts are used for my workbench testing stuff. So an upgrade on one box gives an upgrade for the others. Since not all components need to be upgraded on the same schedule, I can delay upgrading most parts just because a few are getting outdated. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/47 "2019-05-09T14:19:08Z")
Well, the last time I bought a “computer”, I went to [portatech.com](http://portatech.com) and bought a case/MB/CPU/RAM combo, then bought the cheapest GPU that fit my specifications elsewhere. That way, I only had to “put together” the GPU into the MB and was reasonably assured everything was going to work fine. Alternately, I could have bought a decent cheaper walmart computer, taken out the GPU (which typically are sub-standard relative to the CPU), and replaced it, I have done that a time or two, typically HP computers. I like going through portatech because they offer pretty generic stuff, once you get into a big box computer brand, stuff starts getting more specialized and harder to upgrade. Like, they do fancy cases that make putting in a new MB impossible. Since I last purchased a relatively complete system through portatech, I have piecemeal upgraded every single internal component. GPU’s typically obsolesce fastest when it comes to gaming, so that’s where I started. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637/48 "2019-05-10T01:14:33Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Maybe 3 years ago, when I went shopping for desktop computers at Best Buy, some of the models (Acer?) had a tamper-evident seal on the case, saying the warranty would be void if the case were opened. I asked one of the pimply-faced clerks what was the point of having a tower if you couldn’t open the case, he didn’t see who would ever want to do that… > > I ended up ordering a custom PC from Lenovo, with the desired number of expansion slots, room for additional hard disks and eSATA and a full-size empty bay for my Blu-Ray burner. Oh, and a _serial port_, just because I could. 😉 I’m still happy with it. The last time we bought a desktop, they didn’t bother with the seal, but before that, for the last 30 years… But it doesn’t matter. You don’t need a warranty if the computer works: the only reason if will break during the normal warranty period is if you put new stuff into the case, and if you break it, why should the warranty cover the damage you do? And server-grade hardware isn’t sealed: they pretty much expect that if pay that much for your hardware, you aren’t going to be breaking it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-yall-buy-computers-nowadays/833637.md?page=2)