Let the debates end 2004-06-19 - By Dave Angelini
Back
All,
Thanks for all the support on PC purchases.....Let us just say that I've
decided NOT go with Compaq (what was I thinking).
Also many thanks for the PC sites. The most informative was Monarch
Computer. Lot of good product information to help you make and informed
decision and one of the deepest configurators I have ever seen (right down
to the thermal grease used between the CPU and heatsink....now that's
customization!!!)
But overall, the best value site has to be CyberPower PC. If you can get
past the hokey PC cases, internal neon lighting, and that overall "ain't it
cool looking" mentality, they really do offer some tremendous values for
high-end systems. Overall, their PC's were about 10-12% cheaper than
Monarch Computers. They also have won some pretty good awards and a quick
scan of their long list of user testimonials shows very many happy
customers.
I was looking at a 3.4 GHz P4, with an Asus 800MHz FSB motherboard, two
160Gb 8mb serial ATA drives (mirroring data), 2 Gb DDR ram, nVidia 256Mb
5950 Ultra video card, DVD 8x R/W, CD 52x R/W, 17" LCD monitor, RF wireless
keyboard and mouse, WinXP Pro, MS Office - Basic, NIC, speakers, sound card
and some other odds and ends for about $2700. Not bad. I can definitely
see myself buying this system sometime within the next 6 months....I don't
spend this type of money hastily....also, the wanting is more fun than the
having.
So do all your learning at Monarch, and all your purchasing at CyberPower.
Again, thanks for all your help.
Dave Angelini
-- -- Original Message -- --
From: "Martinez Ricardo.O (NET/Dallas)" <Ricardo.O.Martinez@(protected)>
To: <truespace@(protected)>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 11:17 AM
Subject: Re: [TSML] Let the debates begin
Ok, here's my $0.02
My very second computer, I bought online. That was in 1999.
It was from a company called "Cyber Power PC"
Yes, I know, corny name, but they were excellent in the transaction.
Actually, I couldn't tell you how they were in person, cuz I never had to
deal with them. Their ordering was just that good.
They can be found at http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/
They have an online configurator, that lets you choose everything from the
motherboard down to the OS and speakers. Everything is interchangeable. For
example: I had gotten a good deal on an ATI video card, so I chose the
cheapest video card in the configurator, then just swapped. No problem.
Plus: no taxes outside of Cali (at least that's what it was back then).
I have no financial stake in this company. I just had a very good
experience purchasing from them.
Ricardo
-- --Original Message-- --
From: TSML [mailto:truespace@(protected)]On Behalf Of ext Kris Krieger
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 1:05 PM
To: truespace@(protected)
Subject: Re: [TSML] Let the debates begin
At 11:58 PM 17-06-04, Dave Angelini wrote:
>I am beginning to look into getting a new PC (current PC is 4 years old
>Win98 and showing its age). For various reasons, I have narrowed down the
>PC options such that only two choices are still left to me....one generic
>and one specific choice.
>
>Generic Choice: Compaq or HP?
Me, too, but now I am seriously considering what some folks here had
suggested in the past: assembling my own.
FWLIW:
The problem with computer "deals" is that they're just like Fast Food
"deals" - "For ony $1.50 more you can have cheese and double fries so I'll
add those on for you..." You're lucky if you can say "No!" in time - and
you can totally forget about saying something like: "For the $1.50, can I
instead have an extra diet cola and a tomato?" Of course you can't and no
use asking.
Businesses, esp. big businesses!, do not sell "bundles" because they lose
$$ but are just a bunch of great folks - they sell what gives them the best
overall cost:benefit ratio. And their salespeople are there to talk you
into buying the bundle, not accomodate your specific computer needs.
Then, too, I intensely dislikle the little proprietary tweaks they make to
the software and hardware, and it's appalling how many hundreds of MBs are
eaten up just by their so-called "operating system" stuff. My significant
other just got an HP and I find it irritating to even just use the cable
internet connection because of all the goop I have to wade through.
So that's my take - I wouldn't go for either.
I'd normally research local small computer shops and choose one to assemble
my system, but I have yet to find any here (in Masachusetts). Then too, I
don't know that I'd trust one if I did (although I assume there are still a
few mail-order places around, if one wishes to go that route). That's why
I'm considering assembling my own. I've done so much hardware and software
installations/uninstalls that it's logically the next step. And at least
I'd know *exactly* what was going into it. ANd everything would be
off-the-shelf/OEM/standard, no proprietary whatsitses laying in wait
ensnare a user...
Of course, I've also been told I'm compulsive and/or a bit of a control
freak, so there ya go...
- Kris K.
|
|
