I dont want to offend anyone browsing this page that has a prebuilt box, or just likes the brand, but I just find it amazing that cheap computers are sold with cheap stuff! even the cheap cars (kia and suzuki and the like) have 7 - 10 year 100k mile warranty! Like all things there are stipulations involved, but this whole post is not intended to offend anyone but to enlighten you as to the real world!
Just remember if you have questions about building a computer dont see dell or gateway, or even HP, come see us at betaone, as any one of us! I will be more than happy to answer your questions, and if I can't I KNOW someone here can. Dont under pay for a computer when you could spend a little more maybe 100-150$ more at most and get something that lasts a while!
Well I'm posting this in regards to the newsbot's post:
http://www.betaone.net/forum/thread-18434.html
I just seem to want to rant a little!
I can build a computer cheaper than the cheapest dell, granted only by a few dollars, but I wouldn't own it if it was give to me! Buying one of those cheap things is what keeps us computer techs working for ourselves in business! Dell is a good brand, however buying there cheap system is like buying a car that hasn't had the oil changed in it for 2 years, its gonna clunk out on you if you try to use it to the extreme, or try to multitask more often than not. Now I know there are those cases were a prebuilt box has lasted a while, but lets face it, I can tell you this, it wasn't left on for 24/7, didn't play games (if it did you either got ripped off, or put your own videocard in it), it rarly ever multitasked with pride and "oomph!" Me personally I record TV, play BattleField2 and have my email open, and I dont take a hit in proformance! try that with a 300$ dell system, it wouldn't even record TV without it being choppy, let alone play battlefield2! I guess if all you do is type and word process and surf the internet then a 300$ dell is ok, and i would say poorly ok at best. I just feel like if I have to wait 2 - 5 seconds for a program to open (just 1 program) then screw it I will pay more to get the proformance I want! I dont see why people by a dell with the tech support anyways. check this out....
RAM:
Most ram manufactures have a LIFETIME warranty on ram, if it dont, you dont need to buy it
Motherboards:
Most have a 1-3 year warranty and some maybe longer.
CPU:
3 years warranty on retail chips and I think its 90 days on OEM, unless you know what you are doing get the retail chips they come with REALLY NICE fans now!
Harddrives:
3-5 years depending on the brand
CDROM/DVDROM/RW Drives:
3+ years depending on brand also
Video Cards:
not sure but I bet its a 1 year or better
Sound Cards:
Not sure why you need it sinse most MB's have onboard sound and is just as good as most sound cards out there, but none the less they get at least a year warranty from most manufacturers.
Moniters:
Not sure but I know mine has a 1 year on it, maybe they have longer?
Keyboards/Mice/input devices:
Most of these are a dime a dozen you can get combos on sell for under $20 at any wholesale store like tigerdirect, or newegg, but they probably have a year warranty.
Most computer components come with MANUFACTURER WARRANTY's why would you pay the "big corporation" to give you a prebuilt box that comes with tech support when you could build it yourself save that money that you would've spent ($100-300+ on tech support) and get the oomph and proformance that you wouldn't have gotten, you would get something that lasted a lot longer and preform better for pretty much the same amount of money! And if you are turned off by not having tech support, then go to a local store like "Intrex" or "Tigerdirect" or your local wholeseller (not the retail stores), and get them to look at it for you, they will warranty there work and it will work at the best it can after they get done fixing it, if you ever have a problem with a custom pc that is!
I aint saying that a custom pc is the best way to go, however I have always built my pc's ever sinse I can remember, and I have NEVER and i mean NEVER had one crap out or give up the ghost in any way shape or form.
I mean once you look at all of that, I mean really all you get with a BIG brand computer is the Tech Support that you had to pay for to begin with and "thier name" on the box somewhere! I know countless people here at the hospital that have had there "name brand box" worked on by me and other computer techs at the other stores. My box that I built 2 years ago hasn't gone down yet, and I keep it on 24/7 minus the power outages, but none the less it never goes down, I have a high quality machine that I know will last a long time under some of the harshest conditions!
now to reiterate what I said at the very top of this post:
Just remember if you have questions about building a computer dont see dell or gateway, or even HP, come see us at betaone, as any one of us! I will be more than happy to answer your questions, and if I can't I KNOW someone here can. Dont under pay for a computer when you could spend a little more maybe 100-150$ more at most and get something that lasts a while!
please ask us first before you go making a decision that will cost you more money in the long run than what you could've spent and had a good high quality machine!
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