Build vs. Buy - Getting Harder to Justify?

[VenomXt]

Thought I'd point out that the Gx-270 and 280's have, if you hadn't heard, hardware problems coming off the line. The capacitors on the motherboard will sometimes blow. You can see this if you notice them bulging at all, or if you see anything leaking from them. In many cases, the machines continue to function, but develop intermittent problems, such as random crashing/lockups. I believe Dell issued a recall on a lot of the boards for these machines, too (I've been sent to replace many). Hope this helps.

haha had a GX 270 a few months ago take the capacitors with it. though dell replaced it next day the down time on the machine it controlled cost us 112,000 dollars.

 

[VenomXt]

Considering everything yes it does take that long, probably 2-3 hours to get everything installed properly and six hours to set it up. We use lots of programs at work. AutoCAD Building Systems takes almost an hour to get installed and set up. It still takes a half day with a preinstalled computer.

i know what you mean NIX alone take3s 2 hours to install. hehe

 

[Steevo]

True.

Fill in the hosts file.
Check service pack level of client access, update if needed or downgrade.
Assign static IP address.
Setup routing table.
Setup account on server.
Install all our parts books-databases.
About 20 shortcuts.
Setup backup schedule.
Update, install other progams that OEM's forget-don't include.
X-Setup it into submission.
Install networked printers-scanners-fax.


The last one I did was my old one moving in to our other store. 5 hours of setup after the fact. OEM's actually take longer, as I can sit at home with a cold 12 pack and enjoy the build and install. Thus I charge $200 for a basic build install, and $500 for a at home build and remote install-setup.

 

[j79zlr]

i know what you mean NIX alone take3s 2 hours to install. hehe

I guess you're not running Gentoo :lick:

 

[VenomXt]

lol nix is a program like cad ( but 3D on crack) but when the coded it they decided to make the biggest ****ing copy protection they could lol. But its ok when your charging 30,000 grand for a 2 user license your obliged.

 

[XeoNoX]

You can even get a 2400+ system for $199.00, WITHOUT rebates, http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4568777?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

its only worth it to build if its going to be a gamer/server system.

 

[j79zlr]

but look at the quality of that. The only thing I would use from that would be the processor, optical and floppy drive. Not worth $200. Is it worth building a system if all you want to do is check your email, no, but if you use it for anything productive, you can build it yourself and get much better quality. I am talking in the $1500+ range, like I was pointing out earlier, you start with a $500 PC, and after making it usable, it becomes $1000 or more.

 

[Sazar]

Y'all thinking of buying and not paying more again within the next year or two for a brand new system, consider one major thing.

Vista.

 

[VenomXt]

thats what imn wating for to build next with hehe. But i have to have tie OEM version.. or i allways feel dirty.

 

[NetRyder]

Y'all thinking of buying and not paying more again within the next year or two for a brand new system, consider one major thing.

Vista.

If you buy/build a good system now, you definitely won't need a new one for Vista. If it's that low-end $200 box, probably not.
Even good machines that are about a year and a half to two years old will be able to run it fine with just a RAM upgrade (and possibly a graphics card upgrade if you really want Glass).

 

[Steevo]

My current system should run Vista without problems. I hope .

If not, then it isn't worth having.

 

[Sazar]

You'd be surprised at the number of new consumers who are all for a 299 system and don't understand the concept of how things work.

They think that the system will last 7 years, just like their old clunker. Believe you me, there are a lot of people out there who are going to be un-pleasantly surprised by year's end/next year.

 

[Steevo]

Yep.

My favorite is still the people who put a hot running system in a box for a desk and wonder why it dies.

 

[Son Goku]

hehe, I have 1 GB of RAM in my Athlon 64 now... I'm rather certain when Vista comes out, I'm going to be wanting 2 GB for that new system. Microsoft talks about all these new features and nifty stuff the system will do. I read, lots more features, visual enhancements, and other such improvements/bloat == more resource requirements/will need more RAM then winXP. My XP system now, did not get buy on 512 MB RAM as it was, without heavy swapping...

You'd be surprised at the number of new consumers who are all for a 299 system and don't understand the concept of how things work.

They think that the system will last 7 years, just like their old clunker. Believe you me, there are a lot of people out there who are going to be un-pleasantly surprised by year's end/next year.

Ugh, don't tell me about it. I used to know some people who ran an OEM business of themselves. They got some disgruntled customers who were all upset and wanted a warranty replacement (with a 1 year warranty comming with the thing), if a fan so much as died on their system after 6 years, and everything else was running OK. They'd call up, and start screaming some mad ad-libs because a fan didn't last more then 6 years...

Not withstanding that not all hardware lasts that long, it's a good bet they probably never blew the dust outa their comp. The fan had gotten all chocked up with a lot of dust that accumulated in their system by then, which they never cleaned out.

 

[kcnychief]

Considering everything yes it does take that long, probably 2-3 hours to get everything installed properly and six hours to set it up. We use lots of programs at work. AutoCAD Building Systems takes almost an hour to get installed and set up. It still takes a half day with a preinstalled computer.

For the love of productivity, make a hardware indpendent image, sysprep the machines, and save yourself the frustration. Especially if you use all Dell's, it's so easy!

On another note, my current system is about 6 years old. I may need to upgrade before Vista

 

[mlakrid]

I always thought that buying was mainly for the warranty and was for people who were not true enthusiasts. Those who love to tinker with overclocking, custom building/settings, etc, would be the ones to buy. And also those who actually had no need of technical support from any of the vendors. If I had to choose a vendor, I always told myself that I would choose Dell, since they probably have the best machines and track records for as far as things working. However, it should be noted that unless you buy a gaming machine from one of these vendors, you aren't going to get as robust a machine as you normally would by buying a high quality motherboard from say, MSI or Asus.

HOLY CRAP! Its BHARLESS!~!

Yo... welcome to OSNN!

Everyone say Hi to BHarless... has an IRL good friend of mine!

 

[mlakrid]

If you buy/build a good system now, you definitely won't need a new one for Vista. If it's that low-end $200 box, probably not.
Even good machines that are about a year and a half to two years old will be able to run it fine with just a RAM upgrade (and possibly a graphics card upgrade if you really want Glass).

Hehe... not all of us are lacking... in RAM either... unless 2GB wont be enough

Asus P4C800E deluxe mobo
Intel P4 3.2E
2x1GB TWINX Corsair paired
NVidia 6800 GT (AGP) video

 

[kcnychief]

HOLY CRAP! Its BHARLESS!~!

Yo... welcome to OSNN!

Everyone say Hi to BHarless... has an IRL good friend of mine!

what kind of friend takes a month to reply to a post?

 

[mlakrid]

the kind that had "marked all threads as read"
and then goes back to read them all

LOL :laugh:

 

[j79zlr]

For the love of productivity, make a hardware indpendent image, sysprep the machines, and save yourself the frustration. Especially if you use all Dell's, it's so easy!

On another note, my current system is about 6 years old. I may need to upgrade before Vista

Some are using Win2k, some are XP Pro. Different hardware, different programs. I am a consultant, there are only 6 people at my company, 3 mechanical engineers and 3 electrical engineers, so we all use different software. I do HVAC and plumbing, the other ME does all HVAC, and my boss for the most part just does writeup changes for both. I don't know that much about EE, I size motors for the voltage/phase we have at the building and thats about it.

All of the PC's are Dell's, but none are the same model. We buy as we need, so they are all different. We don't have a corporate edition of XP/Office so dropping an image in and changing licenses for about 10 different software packages as well as Windows wouldn't really be that much faster.