Buying a PC

[xarar]

I'm considering buying a new system from micron and I was curious if anyone ever had any problems with them or if they think I'm getting a good deal.

Basically its a 2000+ XP with XP OS Nforce mobo 256 (2 stick) pc2100 crucial memory (I will buy 2 more 256 sticks for 150) 60 gb hd 24x16x42 cdrw 16x48 variable speed dvd19inch (18 view) monitor, printer, antex sv300 speakers, Microsoft XP OS (I run 98/2000 currently and thinking of dual boot 2000/XP). Thanks for any response.

 

[xarar]

Whoops , it'll cost about 1500 after shipping plus 150 for 2 sticks 256 pc2100 ddr ram from crucial.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I didn't even know Micron still made computers.

Not too bad a price for a name brand system. A similarly configured Dell (with a P4/2GHz) came out to over 2 grand. Of course, that didn't use on-board video, NIC, sound, etc. I think you might be crippling that great processor by using an nForce motherboard, if it's not the 420. The onboard video may end up giving you terrible performance. Even if it's the better chipset, it's still only an MX power video.

 

[xarar]

has anyone had any experience or think the prce is fair?

 

[Lord Evermore]

Look at it this way, even if that's the better version of the nForce, with more memory bandwidth for the onboard video to use, with upcoming games such as UnrealTournament2, according to Anand's tests, you MIGHT get 20 frames per second at 800x600, which I'm pretty sure you won't want to use on a 19 inch monitor. At 1024x768 you MIGHT get 13 frames per second.

If that doesn't concern you too much, then go for it, it's a decent price for what you're getting, but for a bit more it's probably worth getting a full GF2 Pro at least. (Of course, when the GF4 comes out, the GF3 prices should drop, so you might go ahead and get your system now, then just upgrade it with a GF3 later when you actually NEED the increased power. The system you're looking at should be capable of doing anything you'll need it to do for the next several months at least.)

Keep in mind you could probably get a small local shop to put together a similar system for less (plus no shipping), if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

 

[xarar]

I have a gf3 already thats why I didn't get any video card.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Ah, in that case, you're probably all good to go. Putting together a similar system using prices from Pricewatch and CompUSA (not necessarily getting the lowest prices on pricewatch's list), came out to 1250 for essentially the same system. So for retail, that is a decent price. I can't speak for the reliability of MicronPC's or their support, it's been too long since I heard ANYTHING about them.

 

[HappyPuppy]

When you factor in the operating system and software (you do get those, don't you?) it's a good deal. I'm assuming you don't want to build your own.

 

[Twitty]

I've owned Micron PCs in the past and have not had any problems. A harddrive from an old laptop I purchased from them went south about 2 weeks before the warranty went out on it. They replaced it without any problems and ofcourse, because it was older (1.6gb), all they had in stock was a 10gb. So it worked out like a free upgrade at the end of the PCs life cycle. Not bad...

I would buy from them again, if need be, but I'll probably build my next PC.

Don't know if that helps at all....

 

[Lord Evermore]

The price for OEM WinXP Pro is only about 80 dollars if you build yourself or have a shop do it (you're getting OEM version when you buy name brand too). Depending on which line of MicronPC you get, XPPro is an additional 99 dollars on some.

Most people never use 90% of the software that comes on retail systems. Many also already have their own copies of the applications they do use which they can simply install on the new machine (obviously in most cases they'd have to remove it from the old machine to be legal). The only software that comes with the MicronPC that I can see is TurboTax and either Office or Works, again depending on the model, with an upgrade costing quite a bit. The only one that I'd consider worth anything is Office, but if you consider the cost of building my own machine and buying office and Windows even retail, buying a MicronPC with Office and WinXP isn't going to be any cheaper, and probably more expensive still. For me, building my own is still the best thing, but I'd be fine sending other people to Micron as far as price.

I do see that they at least use the nForce 420 chipset.

 

[usas]

That is not bad at all. In fact, one of my neighbors has a Micron PC. It was build pretty solid, and they have ok support. Not really nay long telephone waits. But of course you could always come here if you have any problems!

 

[HouRman]

I think you take all the fun and research away when you buy a package deal. It took me approx. 1 hour to build a computer for the first time after I bought all the hardware. I'd consider putting together that same system but better and see how much it costs with shipping. I think you'll probably save money and have a better computer. Pricewatch.com is good as mentioned above.