The AC charger on my laptop finally shat on me. It wouldn't charge for more than 2 full days, so I shaved the wire casing back and tried splicing wires back together. Needless to say, now it really won't work. I won't be in game until I get a computer built after I get my paycheck next week. Hasta!
Excalibur
Thu, 07/12/2007 - 5:49amNOOOOOOOOOO!
Qyn
Thu, 07/12/2007 - 6:09amLame. GL w/the new computer building.
Tigue (not verified)
Thu, 07/12/2007 - 6:16amThey finally killed your fucking AC charger...
*watches your AC charger go up in flames*
15
Sun, 07/15/2007 - 2:54pmFixed.
>_>
I have extremely limited computer access (school lab is open 8am-4pm but I work 7am-5pm) so I'll try to check when I can, but what do you guys think about ordering parts and building a computer vs buying a full system? I know most of the pros and cons between different full systems and pros and cons between certain brands if i'm going to build my own, but I've never really had any feedback on whether I should build my own or just buy a system.
Vasya
Sun, 07/15/2007 - 4:14pmYou'll pay maybe $100 more for a put-together system instead of building one yourself. On the other hand, then you'll get a pre-installed and pretested CPU and RAM. Woo!
Andersen
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 1:59amAlso you get a warranty for when things break (and they will break).
Qyn
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 6:45amAnd a number to call about the anger you have experienced as a result of things breaking. And hopefully even someone at whom to explain that you have a warranty.
Brian
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 8:56amThe majority of pre built systems have only a 1 year warranty unless you purchase some cheesy extended plan. My recommendation is to get name brand pieces and build it yourself. The common warranty for individual parts is 3 years, with some exceptions like Seagate (5 years), Evga (Supposedly Lifetime), and memory (most lifetime). Stay away from teh no name brands and its a win win situation.
Only part which usually isn't covered under warranties are teh case/ power supply since it's nearly impossible to prove its manufactuer fault on that.
John
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 3:01pmI'd definitely recommend buying, I'm sure you'll be able to find a configuration you like and the premium is not that high. Also, think of all the time and effort you'll save! For lazy people like us, that's definitely important.
Beth
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 6:06pmWe've built (and by "we" I mean Matthew tells me what parts to buy and I get the fun of playing with screwdrivers) all of the systems we've owned for the past 8 years. Keroth is right in that all the parts from good brands have nice long warranties in our experience, so when Matthew's video card crapped out a year in for example (weird checkerboard pattern) they happily fixed it for free. I likely got a better system for my money, and it was easy to get it to be specific to what I wanted (we built me a Shuttle PC because I wanted a desktop, but something easy to transport). I just hate dealing with snobby computer people, maybe because I'm a girl they treat me like I'm an idiot. Sure there's a lot I don't know, but that doesn't mean you have to talk to me like I'm 5. I may have boobs, but I like to think that doesn't preclude me from being a fast learner. I also find it to be lots of fun to get all the parts in the mail and put it all together.
Something always seems to go wrong initially, but then we tighten some screws and reconnect some things and often with that bit of fiddling it works out. I'd say as long as you know what to do when things don't quite work or have a friend who can help you, it's hella fun to build your own. Maybe I just like building things, and being in control of the process myself.
The part I couldn't do on my own is figuring out which brands are best and what kind of whatever options are best and whether all the things you want will actually work together...all the research stuff. So if you think you have that down, why not give it a try? I guess it comes down to not so much what is "better" but what you would prefer. I would definitely be buying one whole piece if I didn't have someone like Matthew to advise me. It's just nice because he never treats me like I'm an idiot through the process.
Brian
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 8:50pmYea, I agree with Beth , do the research. Normally though you can buy from a local mom and dad shop the cpu/motherboard/memory combo and have them test it for free . Sure the price may be a few bucks more but at least you know its working out the door, then you can easily do the rest.
The benefit of this guild is you have several intelligent whitebox (what they call custom pc's) builders that can easily point to there favorite brand.
Two big factors that are just personal prefrence though (the debate is endless with it) are if you want AMD or Intel? Also Nvidia and ATI is another big debate, but the more improtant feature to video cards is who is assembling the card.
Personally I almost always use Intel/ATi just great luck with those brands. Since ATI got bought out by AMD though , it seems the quality of the recent new chips aren't as power though as NVIDIA.
My favorite other brands based on RMA ratios mostly
Currently ASUS for motherboards (recently was ABIT but they started having issues with some of the caps they bought). I also love Western Digital for HD, though seagate peopel love the 5 year warranty. For power supplies I like Antec or Ultra
Vasya
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 9:27pmI really like both ASUS and Abit. I'm huge into Athlon CPUs for gaming, and I mostly support ATI cards because they're the underdog in the graphics card business :).
Qyn
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 12:26amI lean Vas' direction too, AMD, ATI, etc. I've built the last....well, all of my desktop computers. If you know what you're doing and don't mind replacing parts yourself, then building them yourself is a reasonable option. If you'd rather deal with a company with tech support and their own warranties, buy from one of those you-build-it-we-deliver-it places. I would never purchase a desktop from any of the large companies like Dell or HP. I think buying from those places is just an exercise in aggrevation for the single end-user.
If we're talking laptops I would only buy an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad. I've had 6 of them over the years and their tech support has always been A+.
Beth
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 7:44amHave you ever been to Fry's Toast? Looking at their locations (http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/frys-store-location.htm) there's one in Wilsonville south of Portland. They custom build systems, and they're just fun to go to if you're not willing to wait for newegg to ship your parts. We always know what we want when we go in, but I've heard people around here say the people in the one near here are helpful.
Ariwyn
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 8:14amI got my last computer at Fry's. That place overwhelms me. AND you have to be careful not to get a part that has been openeded already. If something was returned, they'll just put it back on the shelf.
Qyn
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 10:52amIs Fry's like Best Buy?
Tigue (not verified)
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 10:56amNo, they ask if you want a burger with that.
Brian
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 11:00amFry's is a rip off. It's like Micro Center for people on the east coast. The majority of the "techs" make average wages and only make decent money through commision on particular vendors (my friend works in the one in LV).
If your looking at laptops I agree with Chris. Also I love toshiba toughbooks <3
15
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 12:48pmThanks for the input guys
Beth
Tue, 07/17/2007 - 6:02pmBy our comparison shopping versus newegg we've found good deals there for individual parts. Even when something is a little more expensive, we're all about instant gratification sometimes. I've never really talked to any of the people there.