Customizable Computer building? (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Is there any store that does this?

We where looking at the packages available, for a cheap, bare bones system forour Jersey Shorehouse. Just enough to let me get on the internet, check email and websites, and do some video recording/editing. But most of them come with Printers, Monitors, andSpeakers, wich we don't need. We already have a monitor down there, I transplant my speakers from home, and printers I would never need down there.

What we need, is a Penitum 3, 1.3 GHZ; 50GB HD, 56K Modem(Depending on wether or not we sign up for the high speed cable modems),And an ATI All in Wonder 32MB PCI.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Camp]

Dell, Gateway, & Micron still do this. Shop from the business part of their websites instead of the personal parts.

 

[KyleS]

Neil,

Dell, Gateway, do still have this service and right now the best price point is the 1.6ghz processor. Heck Dell doesnt even sell that speed anymore and on the market the processors below 1.6 are almost and in some cases are more expensive then the 1.6

Best luck,

KyleS

PS: If you were trying to stay away from Dell or Gateway due to pricing then it wont improve too much. The only way to get a ways under dell is to either by say a motherboard with everything fused on (sound, video, network) or to order the parts and build it yourself which would still at most only save around $100 on that low of system.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Its really not too hard to build your own system. The only downside is you won't have tech support and warranty work will be handled through the manufacturer of each individual component. All in all though, its a lot cheaper to do it yourself and you end up with a computer you really want.
Here is a decent article describing how, if you're interested:
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/buildit1.html
If you prefer to have someone else do it I would go with Dell. You can also look into local computer shops putting something together for you (just make sure they're reputable first).

 

[Rob Varto]

I never advocate buying jack from Best Buy, but they carry the E-machines line of computers that can be had for dirt cheap ($300-400 bucks). My mom got one last year and she only does the email, web surfing thing. No problems so far.

The video recording part might be a little taxing on a system like that though.

 

[Mike LS]

You can still get a 1.3 processor from Dell in their Dimension 2200 series.

About the only thing I didn't see that you wanted was the video card. You might have to do that yourself, but the system looks like it's about $600.

 

[DeathStar1]

>>I never advocate buying jack from Best Buy, but they carry the E-machines line of computers that can be had for dirt cheap ($300-400 bucks). >>
Yeah, we where looking at an E-Machines Package for $499, although we'd have to either add, or transplant my current video card to this machine. Can anyone Vouch for the E-Machines people? We mostly buy from Dell, and my Multimedia machine that's getting fixed(wich was state of the art 4 years ago :frowning, was from Aopen.

 

[Leila Dougan]

I can say that E-machines is the worst company out there. I believe their tech support is very limited (90 days I think). Their hardware is horrendous. You'd do yourself a huge favor by spending a few hundred dollars more and going with a more reliable company.;

 

[DeathStar1]

>>I can say that E-machines is the worst company out there. I believe their tech support is very limited (90 days I think). Their hardware is horrendous. You'd do yourself a huge favor by spending a few hundred dollars more and going with a more reliable company.; >>

Damn... I was afraid someone was going to say that....

I have a bout $640's to spend on a new system. There was a Dell Machine for around that much, but it also included a printer(Wich I have no use for down there), and I beleive a monitor(Wich we have a spare). Can anyone recomend a good Dell Machine around this price range?

 

[Eric Gan]

Neil,

Are you confident enough in building your own machine? It's really not that difficult. Go to a local computer store and pick out the basic components (motherboard, processor, ram, hard disk). Add your video card and you're good to go. Putting the CPU fan onto the chipset is about the only place you could mess things up (if your screwdriver slips). Ask the guy to do it for you. If you buy all the components from one place, they'll usually do it for free.

The cheapest Dell Dimension 4400 I could configure on the website was $708 (P4 1.7 Ghz).

It could be lower if you went with a Celeron, but that's no good for video editing. You said you wanted a cheap barebones system for the basic tasks....unfortunately, video editing does not fall in that category. It requires a ton of disk space (13.5 Gb/hr of DV video), and heavy processing power for compressing/editing.

That said, I recently put together a dedicated video editing machine for about $400 with the following specs.

Athlon XP 1800+ on K7S5A

256 Mb DDR Ram

64 Mb Geforce2 MX400

40 Gb HD

I will add another half Gb of RAM once the prices go down a little (if you didn't know, RAM prices have quadrupled since December).

Good luck,

Eric

 

[Paul Spurgeon]

There is one small point to be made about Dell: any of their post-1998 computers have a modified power supply that can only power a motherboard provided by (not manufactured by) Dell. This means that you have NO UPGRADING OPTIONS for your motherboard unless you replace the power supply.
If one attempts to power a non-Dell-provided mobo, it will fry, the only question is whether the processor and ram will fry with it.

 

[DeathStar1]

Re:Building my own system.
I would DEFINETLY love to give it a shot. Sounds like a cool/fun way to spend my hours away, and would definetly be more rewarding if I could actually get it to work properly. But there are somethings I have no experience with, like installing a motherboard or a power supply. If I mucked up even once, there goes all that money down the drain.
As far as video editing goes, heh, looks like I was getting by with an even barer bones system, since it was state of the art four years ago when we bought it :frowning:. The Computer that is getting fixed, is a P2 400 MGHZ System; 56K US Robotics Modem; ATI AIW 8MB Pro PCI, Creative Labs 12X DXR3, and a Creative Labs CDRW 12X.
The new one I'm getting for the shore will still be twice as powerfull as my current one, heh. But, I supposed I could go over 60$'s for a better deal... Have to see what the comittee says about that one.
And yeah, I've noticed that price of memory is going up. Should have gotten a 256 chip when I had the chance...

 

[Dennis Reno]

If your not willing to build your own but are interested in a more flexible solution regarding future upgrades, I would suggest Envision Computer Solutions. I have purchased from them in the past and am currently preparing to do so again.
Why Envision? No, I'm not affiliated in any way! I like the idea of a customizable solution that allows me plenty of flexibility in the future. You select the motherboard, RAM, video card, hard drive, etc. you want from their list and they will build it. IMO its the best of both worlds.
If you are interested but concerned about their reputation, check out Envision's rating at Reseller Ratings. 9.86 out of 10.

 

[Glenn]

Hi,
Dell has some great deals at various times. This past weekend in their small business section you could have gotten a P4 1.6 mhz with a 20GB drive, 128 MG Ram, Network card, Windows XP, a keyboard, and three years of support for under $400 including free shipping, after a $100 rebate.
I don't think that Dell sells the best computers out there but they are far from the worst. That particular model isn't exactly what you were looking for but add a little memory and a larger hard drive and it would be a good little system, IMO.
I suggest that you read www.techbargains.com daily for good deals.
Glenn

 

[MikeAlletto]

Neil, building your own PC is a lot easier than it sounds. Buy a case with a power supply already in it. The motherboard really only goes in one way. The power only connects one way. It really is a lot of fun to get a box full of components and put it all into a case that you picked out yourself. The most difficult part is deciding what you want. I switched configurations many times when I built mine 2 years ago. And I learned a lot just by reading reviews and poking around online. It was a very rewarding experience and I'll be building another one next year.

 

[Ian_A]

Neil,
Building your own PC would be my suggestion as it is not that difficult to put the components together. I would say the hardest part is getting all the components to work as one. Generally when you buy your components you must consider the case and power supply. I had a problem when I upgraded the MB. processor on mine a year ago when the power supply didn't have enough power, the problems cleared up after I went from a 250-350 watt power supply. Also the MB most important as everything needs to plug into after these two choices then be aware of any possible hardware conflicts that may occur so choose your components, inmost cases I stick with name-brand products.
I found many resources on the Internet news groups, manufacturer sites that can provide answers and solutions to possible hardware conflicts.
I would search out a local area computer shop that sells OEM. parts and do the research into what components and configuration you may want. If the idea of building a PC may sound a bit much most of these shops will build the system for you and provide support, although it would not be 24 hr. as some of the bigger name brand computer builders offer. Another to having a computer built in this manner would be that when you order your parts you get exactly what you want and you are not paying for video card or sound card that will just be taken out of the machine because you want to upgrade the components. I also noted that allot of the big name manufacturers are going with on-board sound, video and even LAN. The problem that this can cause if for example you wish to have another video card is that when the new card is installed you may not be able to disable the one that is built in. Which will tie up a resource and could cause a hardware conflict.
You can check out AMD's site at (www.amd.com) there is a section on there site for builders and what different recommended MB's power supplies for there processors. Intel has a section on there site that is similar.
Happy computing
Ian

 

[SarjuS]

you know, since this is going to be nothing more than a browsing box, you might want to consider aesthetics more than speed and features.
you might want to consider getting a Shuttle barebones system. the look really dope and they have more than enough power to simply surf the web and write a paper.
and they also have onboard everthing. all you need to do is add a CPU, HD and RAM.
it almost turns system assembly into Lego building.
there are also the nForce based boards from NVIDIA. easiest boards to setup ever. 1 Driver for the entire system - the 420D chipset has video, network and LAN built in. all with more than enough power.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...ry=1465&DEPA=1

 

[Eric Samonte]

If ur worried about having to deal with individual component warranties, try what I did. I gathered prices online of what I wanted, brought it to a local computer store here. I asked him if he could match it and actually he came very close..like less than $100 more. So I went and got stuff from him, built it myself (also my first time) and even have a one year warranty from the local dealer! I got what I wanted at a good price and I even helped the "community" by buying local.

And Neil, ur not going to spend "hours" building it. It will be like 2..maybe 3.

 

[Mike LS]

As I mentioned above, Dell still offers a 1.3 ghz processor in their Dimensions 2200 series. Here's the breakdown of what I found.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...im22iw&cfgpg=1
You might have to scavenge a few parts out of your old computer, but it falls in your price range, and they're offereing free shipping for a couple of more days.