What about HP's pre-build computers?

[Gusty987]

OMG, I went to the ABScomputers.com website, they FREAKIN' ROCK! They will *build me* a PC with whatever I specify and I don't have to worry about the HP and Dell bullcrap. So far, ABS is awesome! THANKS carni!

 

[zodder]

Originally posted by: MiLLeRBoY
Sounds like Budmantom should change his name to Dell fanboy.

And you to "ignorant troll".

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Gusty987
Is the only reason people build their own PC's cuz it's easy and saves money, or is it true that if I buy premade from HP it will have lower quality hardware?

Not necessarily lower quality, but less standard stuff. For example...people buying a Dell and realizing they need special PCI cards with different voltages or discovering there is no AGP slot or the motherboard lacks a feature in the BIOS or whatever. Many Dells also have ducting that, while effective, makes changing the PCU HSF someday a mod job. The bottom line is that it's a mystery what you'll find inside a Dell unless someone else already has one and can tell you for sure what's inside which is why threads on Dell deal in the HD forum are full of paranoid questions.

If you know what your buying you wont have a problem, the person that buys a Dell 2400 looking for an agp slot is the same person that buys a motherboard w/o an agp slot. It's like anything else you have to go do some homework, you don't go to the store and buy a nforce 2 motherboard and a p4.

The 4600/8300 are great and really easy to upgrade, full size agp slots and 3 or 4 pci slots plus they have clips that snap into the hard drive that make installing a snap. How about the case, what a neat design and how about how quite it is, try and make your home built that quite.

True Dell's/Hp's are not for everyone, if you want to squeeze every once of power out of your system those system are not for you.


One last point, do you think that the guy who doesn't take the time to find out if a computer has an agp slot will know what he is looking for when he builds his own?

Okay, but I can SEE if the MB I'm buying has a slot. To find out if the Dell does, I need to call Dell sales and be forwarded to tech support or ask somebody on a message board and I have to hope I'm getting the right info for the right version of the right model.

LOL, I hope your joking.

When you configure the system and it gives you an option of an agp card you know it has an agp slot and if it doesn't....

Tom

How do you know they don't use two different boards depending on which you select? Maybe not...maybe so...either way you don't know...and if you do know, will you still know two days from now when they change their policy.

I think Dells are often a good deal, but a problem IS that they frequently use proprietary or custom stuff that limits expandabilty or upgradability. Aside from that, even IGP motherboards have AGP slots...Dell just goes out of their way to make it difficult for their customers to change anything...rightfully so because you don't want to be supporting and troubleshooting a million different configs.

 

[Gagabiji]

Originally posted by: Diabolus
Hell I did you a favor.. this is courtesy of ZipZoomFly.com, only because NewEgg was slow as sh*t...

AMD Athlon64 3200+ Retail - $280
Asus K8V Deluxe - $139
Kingston 1GB PC3200 Kit - $179
Lite-On 8X DVD+-RW - $123
CoolerMaster Wave Master - $150
Antec 450W Power Supply - $70

Total Cost is ~$940. Add some software and you're still way ahead.

Add the video card and PS and your STILL way ahead.

 

[Budmantom]

HeroOfPellinor

I suppose it can be confusing, but a lot less than picking out all the parts in a pc.

I disagree with you about them making it hard to upgrade, the cases are very simple to get to and the hard drives, pci and agp slots are all very inovative.

Don't buy a dell if you want to change out the mobo cuz that's not happening.

You might be thinking of the Dells in the past but the newer one do make it easy.

Tom

 

[Diabolus]

Originally posted by: SirDude

Originally posted by: Diabolus
Hell I did you a favor.. this is courtesy of ZipZoomFly.com, only because NewEgg was slow as sh*t...

AMD Athlon64 3200+ Retail - $280
Asus K8V Deluxe - $139
Kingston 1GB PC3200 Kit - $179
Lite-On 8X DVD+-RW - $123
CoolerMaster Wave Master - $150
Antec 450W Power Supply - $70

Total Cost is ~$940. Add some software and you're still way ahead.

Add the video card and PS and your STILL way ahead.

PS is already added.

 

[carni]

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: carni
I would check pout www.monarchcomputer.com, or www.abscomputers.com if you want someoen to pre-build you a box.. They are two of the most affordable and highly rated companies out there. You will also never run into bios and configuration limitations that you will often encounter with Dell, Gateway, and HP.

Monarch is a great company and honestly builds and delivers a box for about 100 bucks more than what it owould cost you to build it yourself. The one i purchased through them cost about 1100-1300 dollars (USD) less than going through Alienware, Dell, Gateway, of HP.

ABS is teh parent company of newegg. I have never purchased from them but they have a solid rating on resellerratings.com.

Please list the specs of your system and how much it cost.

If you know what your doing and when to buy you can buy a Dell system for substantially less than parts alone.

Tom

I bought my system back in Feb, so maybe it's a bit cheaper now, maybe not.

The whole deal cost me 1700 dollars. I just redid it at Monarch and it totals to 1754.

Case: Enermax CS-10182-BA Tower - Black $84.00
Power Supply: SPI Sparkle FSP350-60BN PS $46.00
Motherboards: Asus K8V K8T800 DDR-400/SATA/USB/GB-LAN/8 $130.00
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $279.00
Thermal Grease: Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease $12.00
Heat Sink Fan: Thermaltake A1838 for AMD Opteron/Athlon6 $26.00
Memory: 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair TwinX1024-3200LLPro $330.00
Hard Drive: SATA - Western Digital (WD1200JD) 120 GB/ $99.00
CD-RW/DVD-RW: Samsung SM-352NENB 2MB Cache 52X32X52x16 $69.00
Floppy Drive: Mitsumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Drive (Black) $19.00
Video Card: ATI (Asus) 9800 Pro XT 256MB DDR 8X/4XAGP $489.00
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/CD an $89.00
Case Function Add-On: Enermax Aluminum UC-A07FATR2 (BLACK) Mult $33.00
Monarch Logo Stickers: 270642 - Monarch GT 64 Logo
Subtotal for 800069 with your selected options: $1,754.00

It would have cost me 90 bucks less to build it myself, but I was feeling lazy. Also, since the company is in Georgia and I'm in Cali I didnt have to pay tax. Which is about 100 bucks right off the top. None of the big comapanies offer you the selection you get from Monarch. They are also huge on customer support. ABS doesn't offer you the selection variety, but from what I have seen they offer extremely competitive prices.

I wouldn't buy a Dell with my mother-in-laws money.

 

[Budmantom]

Carni,

That's about how much I spent on my last 3 systems(combined).... including monitor and speakers.

Lol, as long as your happy, that's all that matters.

Tom

 

[Luhny]

the video card alone would cover my computer !!!

 

[Cerb]

$1650?!
I get just under $1200 from Newegg including XP Pro and a 9800 Pro.

 

[carni]

i Havent compared the recent prices against what I built. I just know that whne I bought it it cost 90 bucks more than what I could build teh exact same sytem off of pricewatch for. I also have a XP2400+ I built for my wife that is a nice gaming rig that cost less than my vid card. But hey, I have to money, so all is well.

And, The primary point was that for having someone buil it for you it is a great price. Go build that same system at one of the big companies and see what ya come back with. The differenc eis substantial.

 

[mrweirdo]

Originally posted by: Diabolus
Hell I did you a favor.. this is courtesy of ZipZoomFly.com, only because NewEgg was slow as sh*t...

Hrm, so it just isnt me its actualy neweggs site being slow. I was online the other day waiting for ever to get pages to load on newegg and thought it was my dodgy conection causing it :/

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: mrweirdo

Originally posted by: Diabolus
Hell I did you a favor.. this is courtesy of ZipZoomFly.com, only because NewEgg was slow as sh*t...

Hrm, so it just isnt me its actualy neweggs site being slow. I was online the other day waiting for ever to get pages to load on newegg and thought it was my dodgy conection causing it :/

Nope. Every now and then, for no forseeable(sp) reason, Newegg gets putty.

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: carni
i Havent compared the recent prices against what I built. I just know that whne I bought it it cost 90 bucks more than what I could build teh exact same sytem off of pricewatch for. I also have a XP2400+ I built for my wife that is a nice gaming rig that cost less than my vid card. But hey, I have to money, so all is well.

And, The primary point was that for having someone buil it for you it is a great price. Go build that same system at one of the big companies and see what ya come back with. The differenc eis substantial.

This is what I bought from Dell last week:

3.2ghz
9800pro
256mb
cdrw
dvd
17lcd
80gb hd
xp
etc..

$1020

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: carni
i Havent compared the recent prices against what I built. I just know that whne I bought it it cost 90 bucks more than what I could build teh exact same sytem off of pricewatch for. I also have a XP2400+ I built for my wife that is a nice gaming rig that cost less than my vid card. But hey, I have to money, so all is well.

And, The primary point was that for having someone buil it for you it is a great price. Go build that same system at one of the big companies and see what ya come back with. The differenc eis substantial.

This is what I bought from Dell last week:

3.2ghz
9800pro
256mb
cdrw
dvd
17lcd
80gb hd
xp
etc..

$1020

4600 w/ those specs (but free upgrade to 120GB HD): $1587 - $100 MIR
8300 w/ those specs (but free upgrade to 120GB HD): $1728 - $150 MIR
Be a bit more detailed.
$1200 with a monitor (256 go bye-bye, 1GB comes in at $180) is rather nice, LCD no less? How'd the rest of the hardware come down to $700?

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Cerb

Originally posted by: Budmantom

Originally posted by: carni
i Havent compared the recent prices against what I built. I just know that whne I bought it it cost 90 bucks more than what I could build teh exact same sytem off of pricewatch for. I also have a XP2400+ I built for my wife that is a nice gaming rig that cost less than my vid card. But hey, I have to money, so all is well.

And, The primary point was that for having someone buil it for you it is a great price. Go build that same system at one of the big companies and see what ya come back with. The differenc eis substantial.

This is what I bought from Dell last week:

3.2ghz
9800pro
256mb
cdrw
dvd
17lcd
80gb hd
xp
etc..

$1020

4600 w/ those specs (but free upgrade to 120GB HD): $1587 - $100 MIR
8300 w/ those specs (but free upgrade to 120GB HD): $1728 - $150 MIR
Be a bit more detailed.
$1200 with a monitor (256 go bye-bye, 1GB comes in at $180) is rather nice, LCD no less? How'd the rest of the hardware come down to $700?

This was the 4600 deal from the 23rd and it was a free upgrade to 80gb and 15%off and a 100mir.

A lot of people chose the 2.8ghz, 80gb hb, cdrw/dvd, 17"lcd etc.. for $500.

Tom

 

[carni]

My system compared to the one your talking about is apples and oranges. There are many items on mine that are simply not availble through Dell, such as, Corsair XMA PRO RAM, aftermarket Cooler, multi function panel, case iwth 7 fans, non-proprietary motherboard (though Dell does use nice MOBOs). I did however build the exact samne sytem you spoecified at Monarch. Total price: 1040. 20 dollars more, but I dont have to pay tax at Monarch and do at Dell. When you get into Dell's systems that can be built up relatively close to mine, there is a significant difference.

The biggest difference is Customer Support. BTW, I owned a Dell, and two Gateways. Go to resellerratings.com and compare Dell to ABS or Monarch. I think you may be mildly suprised. One thing I know for a fact, if I call Monarch I am going to get a person who's native language is english. Not someone who lives in India, and after 15 minutes I still have no idea what he/she is saying. I am not saying anything negative about people from India. I am sure everyone in that room is probably smarter than I am, but it is very hard to resolve an issue when you don't Know what the heck they are talking about.

But the bottom line is Gusty asked a question, Checked out ABS and got the answer he was looking for. I hope ABS works out for you Gusty.

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: carni
My system compared to the one your talking about is apples and oranges. There are many items on mine that are simply not availble through Dell, such as, Corsair XMA PRO RAM, aftermarket Cooler, multi function panel, case iwth 7 fans, non-proprietary motherboard (though Dell does use nice MOBOs). I did however build the exact samne sytem you spoecified at Monarch. Total price: 1040. 20 dollars more, but I dont have to pay tax at Monarch and do at Dell. When you get into Dell's systems that can be built up relatively close to mine, there is a significant difference.

The biggest difference is Customer Support. BTW, I owned a Dell, and two Gateways. Go to resellerratings.com and compare Dell to ABS or Monarch. I think you may be mildly suprised. One thing I know for a fact, if I call Monarch I am going to get a person who's native language is english. Not someone who lives in India, and after 15 minutes I still have no idea what he/she is saying. I am not saying anything negative about people from India. I am sure everyone in that room is probably smarter than I am, but it is very hard to resolve an issue when you don't Know what the heck they are talking about.

But the bottom line is Gusty asked a question, Checked out ABS and got the answer he was looking for. I hope ABS works out for you Gusty.

I bought a computer from Nutrend (a sister company to abs) and I think it's a great company, when you call tech support you will not get an Indian accent you will get an Asian accent(atleast this was the case 2 years ago). The hold time is/was just as long as Dell if not longer, you just don't get transfered as much. The company treated me real well, a week before my warrant ran out I sent the computer back and they replaced my mobo, cpu, dvd and a couple of other things. They do treat their customers right, the thing that I didn't care for is that they have normal business hours not 24/7, but that's just getting petty.

Tom