Okie...it is time to get a new PC...there is so many choice out there i really don't know what to go for. I went to so many store all told me different story like the other shop use cheap motherboard and poor quality stuff etc.....

My parents prefer me to go for the branded like Acer, IBM, Dell, HP &....

My question is that would you go for the quality branded or to get a custom build one ?

Thanks

Going branded, is good, if your not the tinkering type and if anything was to go wrong you always take it back to the same ppl. Dell is prob the best of branded systems. Plus they usually give u good fone support if you cant figure out things(great for the parents haha)

If you have actually played with the insides of a computer(that said its not hard to learn) than custom built is way cheaper and you get the parts you want, instead of getting parts the brand only has to offer. The only bad thing is you may have to goto different shops to get parts for the cheapest deals and warranties can be a pain as well, but that depends on the part.

Also going the custom way, u would need to read up on wat you want, AMD vs Intel, speed, type of ram, hdd, video card blah blah.

Just think of what you will mainly use the pc for and how geeky u are then go from there.

I'd go DIY route and build the thing myself.. I'm just a sucker for trouble ... besides I can usually fix and troubleshoot any problems that may crop up in building a system. The pro's of putting your own machine together is hand selecting exactly what components go in and knowing exactly who the machine is configured.

If you are getting the store to build your custom machine for you they should offer some sort of warranty on their construction.

I guess it's all up to how tech/pc savy you are and how much you trust yourself putting the thing together.

I have a pet hate for branded pc's steer clear from them ever since looking at the internals of an IBM Ps1 and wondering WTF do they have to make it so hard to upgrade them with their custom riser cards etc...

On the upside if anything ever does go wrong with the branded PC you can just send the damn thing back with a note saying fix it attatched to it.

Quality wise I say there isn't much difference as long as you know what you are doing and research for any potential conflicts that may occur between your chosen components.

I have a friend who bought an IBM pc at the same time I custom built my previous system... put a long story short.. my old system is still running whilst my friend has had to go back to IBM to get something fixed about 3 times. It could be user abuse though as I have noticed a few large dents on the side of his case .

One last thing regarding.. when you pick up a custom built PC make sure you see it running before you collect it.. and always check the parts they put into it against the invoice... I nearly got stiffed once but luckily I checked... but this was ages ago and I'm sure the industry is a little bit better now.

I would definately do the custom route... But as WRXCORE said above, if you aren't good with computers, then you are better getting a name brand which you can get fixed easily.

A computer is the sum of its parts... The problem is the brand name blokes like the sum to equal "cheap to build" so they can still make a good profit and remain competitive.

Then add in:
1. They believe one computer fits all
2. They LOVE proprietry architecture on componants.. which means you can only repair/upgrade using their gear. Which is always very expensive
3. The Warranty isn't worth the paper its written on
4. You get zero support, reguardless of what they say

IMO, find a good computer shop and tell them what you need in a computer. If they're more interested in bumping up price brackets or adding gizmo's you don't think you need/want, walk out and find another place. Not like there's a shortage of computer places out there.

Remember this: Cheapest is not best, neither is dearest. Don't be clouded by brand names and don't let them talk you into AMD, go for Intel.

If you need a hand.. drop me a PM I'm happy to help.

Nothing at all wrong with AMD provided you keep them cool

Im quite happy with the support from Dell

Ive got a dell inspiron laptop i use for netting from bed, and even though its 4yrs or so old, if i ever need a driver, i go to their site, enter the type of computer (ie dell inspiron p133st) and it spits out the drivers i need

That said, im about to start building my own computer, not because i dont like branded pc's, but mainly because it allows me to build it as i have the funds (ie use old HD etc.. till i get the rest of the money).

Theres a lot of good packages out there though, get out there and check out some prices

Matt

I love my AMD pc's. I got both AMD and Intel PC's...neither of them break down or overheat or whatever rubbish - so my advice...go AMD.
Always got extra cash left over for the car or the gf.
Go custom.
Best thing to do is get prices from places.
I like www.msy.com.au prices.
So I would select each part that you want...see how much it adds up to. Then start ringing around for quotes.
Good thing about doing this is that you know what u want - salesman don't talk down on you and when they build it, u get exactly what u want and not what they would like to give you.
Anyway, I'm not very experienced in buying computers - but thats the last thing I did and I saved heaps.
Also, if u go visiting a store to get a price...tell em u got quoted <this much> by <the store down the road>. Then if they tell u to go buy it from them...then walk out and go next store.
And if the salesman try tell u to go Intel and knocking AMD - be strong...AMD all the way!

next tuesday i'm building a computer for the g.f
I'm more than happy to build u one at the same time (i will be able to get a discount for both of u as i will be spending twice as much at the same time)

i get my prices pretty damn competitively and will do it for u at cost + a bottle of midori or sumthin... p.m me and we can arrange something

Another good site for finding prices (and the places to order the parts from) is here:

Razor Prices

It is an australian site, despite the lack of a ".au"....

my opinion

if u aint interested in 'working' on your PC. and/or u dont know nethin, brand name is good.

if u understand about RAM, video cards, etcthen i would recomend goin to a shop, and saying 'i want this and this...how much' some of the bigger companies u can do that anyway i think, so u might be better there.

the only problem with the big compaines IMO are

1) price - they are more expensive on a higher end machine (ie. add in a decent vid card and price goes up $800 for a $300 card)

2) if u need to work on them, they are always packed in real tight and are annoying.

3) service - u gotta send them back

4) certain cases (IBM) have streamline cases, and generic cards dont fit (without mods) so if u work on it yaself...could be a prob. - example, IBM machine at work, they want $660 for a card i can get my self for $80, just gotta trim it a bit

but yeah....dell and compaq i have had good experiences with. IBM i wouldnt ever recomened based on my experiences. i have been told compaq dont have great service, but i never had a problem with their putas...so i wouldnt know.

Acer are apparently good -but i never dealt with them

optima i wont deal with anymore - just personal opinion,

but yeah..... good luck it's not a huge deal, IF you know what u r doin, go to a 'shop' if you dont, then u r better with a company, typically, they design packages to suit ppl, where I have known MANY ppl that got ripped off big time by a small shop (they will say stuff like - yeah we are $100 cheaper cause the Hard drive is a bit smaller..." stuff like that, and in the long run it costs more......where the bigger companies tend to just give a puta that ppl will be happy with, and not complain about.

that's my 2c

since you in WA try out trinix www.trinix.com.au

local mob pretty much can select a custom setup with warrenty and have it built for you. they are pretty good to deal with getting things fixed etc (from all my experiences and have used them for 5 odd years)

They are pretty good on price aswell.

I never have purchased a brand PC and doubt I ever will. Not that I am a big g33k but cheaper and easier when problems arise.

There is nothing wrong with an AMD based computer.... but i would go Athlon XP over the duron.... Win XP wouldnt install on my duron. Truth be know i used to have a celeron based computer and it was the biggest bucket of crap...!!!!

imo ir eckon ui should build urself. instead of branded, coz they rip ya off!

i spent $300 on a upgrade of KT400 MB, XP 2ghz, 350w power supply and 256 kingston DDR ram

cheap imo, all brand new

i have always built my own computers. my parents bought a compaq against my advise and have had nothing but problems with it. worse, they got ripped of totally with it.
I prefer to build the computer right from day one with the best components so that i dont have to upgrade it 3 months later.
i built my computer the same time my parents bought the compaq, over 2 years ago and my dad paid more.
he wants to upgrade now cause he bought need for speed high stakes 2 and its choppy as hell where as my machine eats the game for breakfast.
mind you, i did upgrade the video card recently, but even with the original video card i bought two years ago, it would still eat my dads compaq.
and he upgraded the video card in it as well to a tnt 2 and paid 300 bucks for it!

here is an idea for you. go out to harveys or where ever you want to buy the new computer and price it up. grab a spec sheet and post the specs/model number and the price. then im sure, somebody here will price an equivilant custom machine and then you can compare prices, and see what extra you will get for the same bucks of a brand name.

[ July 24, 2003, 15:39: Message edited by: audible ]