I finally got around to finish building a pc myself. I did one very bad thing during the install process and forgot to put the motherboard on those insulation screws and it damaged two hard drives and one memeory chip. Now I had to spend $100 more on two 160G hard drives and I think I will buy another 500 MB memory chip. I thought I knew everything about installing computers before I started.
good job. or you could have saved the hastle and bought a dell. How much did your setup cost you? Specs?
Ahh, the building of the first PC... I remember those days. In 1997 I was making 7 bucks an hour as an engineer's assistant for MW Kellogg and I built my first PC one part and one payday at a time. I still have all of my receipts from Chipsmart for it and I paid over 2000 bucks for the following machine specs: AMD K6 200MHz Processor Gigabyte Motherboard 32MB SD RAM 2.1GB Samsung Hard Drive 16x CD Rom SoundBlaster 16 Sound Card 2MB Diamond Video Card Sony Floppy Drive 56.6k US Robotics Modem PS/2 Mouse PS/2 Keyboard 14.1" VGA Monitor Total Cost: $2,176 Boy how far we have come.
Well 2.8 p4 cpu, 2 160G harddirve, 500 mb memory(soon to be 1G). intel motherboard, 128 mb video card, integrated network and sound system, a tower case. Total about $450. Oh I have DVD RW drieve and a DVD R drive from the previous computer. Mouse Keyboard and Monitor all from the old computer too. Well I could have saved 100 on hard drives if I didn't ruin them.
Congrats, I remember building my first PC a few years ago, with some much appreciated help from members on the BBS. Then I built my mother one. I am ready to start on my third one too. Has anybody, if it is possible, ever built though own laptop?
I don't want to debate, but Dell's products are crap. The only thing they had going for them was service and that has gone down the tubes. Look out for sales on HP. They are out servicing Dell. HP/Compaq have always designed a better product. It just wasn't as low cost as Dell. That will change soon. This ain't your fathers Dell anymore. They are fast becoming their own worst enemy. Cutting cost in ways that have a negative impact on customers. When they finally try and right the wrong they won't be able to compete with HP. Of course that's just my opinion. I have been a Compaq (and now HP) proponent for 20 years. I've seen many the inside of Dells and always wondered why people were so high on them. But if Dell is good for you, stick with it. Go with what works.
Not sure what you mean. Perhaps you have an inside skinny. I will say this - If you are saying they use separate sources, you are right. Computer companies don't always use the same source for their data. It goes both ways. I'm basing my opinions on my own personal history and what little I have read on Dell and HP. My views are definately biased.
Dell is popular with the people that matter, IT professionals with purchasing power. I've worked on them all and was an HP/Compaq service tech through Nortrop Grumman IT, and you couldn't pay me to work on another Compaq/HP. I don't work on anything besides servers now, thank god... but if I did I'd want nothing but Dell's, the only PC maker anywhere close to Dell is IBM and they are more pricey for no apparent reason. Laptops aren't tough to work on after you learn what the hell you are doing a few times... however, building a laptop of your own is pretty pointless. There are a couple (and by that I mean VERY few) clone notebook parts makers out there, but everything in a notebook is designed for that specific model, so there is no real sales opportunity in a "clone laptop" market because there are no market-wide standards like there are with desktops.
I still have a couple invoices leftover from chipsmart back from 99 or so. I can't believe i spent that much money on that stuff!
Especially considering they were closed down for selling stuff that "fell off the back of a truck" and tax evasion... Jerks! I bought the first CDRW to be released to the public in late 1998 from ChipSmart, it was a 2x/4x made by Acer and cost me $449.00
I have also worked on Dell's and HP/Compaq's Enterprise and Commercial desktop products and have had different experiences. I respect your views. They don't follow suit with mine, but such as life.
Screw DELL http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=eMachines_T6524 Sick system for the price. And before anyone go emachine? Check the specs, check price watch and new egg for similar items, then realize that ever since being bought by gateway they've turned out very good products. I swear by the "high ends" of emachines
My last two computers have been through gentechpc.com. I haven't had any problems, and there is a high level of customization available. They have some good specials too.
Great deal for someone who doesn't build PCs and has a monitor. If you don't mind Pentium chips, buying a Dell around this time (when the coupons start flooding) will get you a better deal with an LCD and a decent gaming card. The emachine will probably be a better future proofing option, when Longhorn supposedly makes use of those 64 bit chips. However, for someone who keeps the same mobo for 5 years, it won't make that big a difference.
i built my own notebook. the best barebones manufactuer for notebooks imo would be asus. built a 3.2 p4, 15.4' lcd, 6800 go, 2 gigs ram, 100 gig hd, dvd burner, etc etc blah blah for $1,600.
