Any Dell computer fans out there

[Schadenfreude]

As usual american jobs go bye bye

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=WUN1POSOGQ3UWQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=210500372

[Guest c.a.s.]

To see why they will not get a SINGLE PENNY of my money after we pay off this computer, google "Dell Class Action Lawsuit", and you'll see that they treat their customers HORRIBLY, and use impossible payment plans and do not follow their deals, guarantees, and have insanely high interest rate that keeps rising.

[shaftbass]

Don't finance your computer.

[TripleDigitRide]

Don't finance your computer.

+1

Or anything for that matter. You'll end up nothing more than a slave to the lender.

Financing anything but a home is not a good idea, IMHO. Some of the things people finance and/or buy with a credit card simply amaze me. A computer would be one of them.

[Magiccarpetrides]

+1

Or anything for that matter. You'll end up nothing more than a slave to the lender.

Financing anything but a home is not a good idea, IMHO. Some of the things people finance and/or buy with a credit card simply amaze me. A computer would be one of them.

Your only a slave if you let yourself be(and dont read the fine print). While I agree paying cash is a much better way to go there are definitely situations where financing is advantageous such as "12mos same as cash" as you can use their money for free (just dont forget to pay before the 12th month) and use your personal coin for investments. The best advice is to know your budget and have a "rainy day fund" something most of us (myself included) dont do enough.

AHEM: this is exactly VIZIO's business model...they design in the USA(with a whopping 100 employees) and outsource all the production. It has allowed them to be Fortune's Top "Most Earnings per Employee(for the company not the employees) Company". While it sucks for our workers its just good business sense. I hope Boeing threatens to do this so their cry baby/over paid/ungrateful workers will wake up and quit screwing the company. Maybe they could just do one better and put help wanted ads in Detroit as im sure many laid off autoworkers would be happy to work for $25 per hour, full benefits, a $5,000 re-sign bonus, and an 11% guaranteed raise over 4 years...not to mention moving from that crap hole to beautiful Washington State. *thread hijack in progress*

Edited September 13, 2008 by Magiccarpetrides
rant

[strickj]

Well unfortunately guys not everyone has a safe full of cash able to fork out 1,200 bucks for a computer,or....oh I dunno,5-6 grand ::wink:: on a new car.

If it has to be done,then it has to be done.

But when something is signed,its signed,period!Regardless of bad customer service,or what ever.

Same goes for home loans Gurrr,now I'm pissed off thinking about all that crud about the Mays!

[Guest Verbal Kint]

Don't finance your computer.

+1

[TripleDigitRide]

Well unfortunately guys not everyone has a safe full of cash able to fork out 1,200 bucks for a computer,or....oh I dunno,5-6 grand ::wink:: on a new car.

If it has to be done,then it has to be done.

But when something is signed,its signed,period!Regardless of bad customer service,or what ever.

Same goes for home loans Gurrr,now I'm pissed off thinking about all that crud about the Mays!

You don't need to have a safe full of money to buy a $1,200 computer, nor do you need a $1,200 computer. Same goes for the $6,000 for a vehicle.

Chances are, if you're financing just about anything, you're living above your means. That is where people get in trouble and pay more for an item than they should.

You can buy a computer that will get the job done for $200-$300, used. You can buy a very nice new computer for about $500-$600. I've even seen Wal-Mart (not that I condone shopping there) selling brand new HP's for right around the $400-$500 mark. No, it's not a super-bad custom built computer like mine:p, but it sure as heck will get the job done. Most average people have much more computer than they will ever need or use. Same culd be said for many items people are buying on credit.

Bottom line, I believe people are much better off saving their money to make purchases. It will save lots of money and stress in the long run. Once you have your greasy little hands on the said items, they will be all yours. You'll never have to worry about someone coming after it, because you're not able to pay for it.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

Computers...

Never buy (unless forced to - i.e. notebooks).

Always build.

/thread

[Magiccarpetrides]

Computers...

Never buy (unless forced to - i.e. notebooks).

Always build.

/thread

You know a lot of times though depending on your needs you end up better off buying a base rig and upgrading it least when your needing windows or a packaged software....least thats the conclusion I have come to after building 3.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

You know a lot of times though depending on your needs you end up better off buying a base rig and upgrading it least when your needing windows or a packaged software....least thats the conclusion I have come to after building 3.

Negative, Ghostrider.

You can snag the OEM software (Windows, etc) for really cheap, when building a PC system. Usually just have to couple the software with hardware (i.e. buy a misc cable at the same time) to make it legal. But building a system is always a better option than buying. You save hundreds of dollars, pick exactly what you do and don't want, and know exactly what the quality is. You can't say that about any pre-fab machine.

I've been building pc's since I was like 12 yrs old (with help from my brother) when our first machines were 286SX systems. lol. Only purchased machines were the Commodore 64/128 systems prior to that, and the Vaio laptop I picked up overseas.

Then there's always the newsgroups... for *cough*ExtendedDemoVersions*cough* software.

[TripleDigitRide]

Computers...

Never buy (unless forced to - i.e. notebooks).

Always build.

/thread

That is some sound advice. I purchased all the components for this computer through Tiger Direct. The only problem is, a lot of their products come with mail-in rebates. In the end, this is great, but you do need to have the available cash in hand to make the initial purchase.

Before rebates, I paid about $950. After the rebates, the total cost of the computer was just over $500. That was for the tower and all components, 19" LCD monitor, keyboard, and optical mouse. No, I didn't go all out on the accessories. I was more concerned about the actual performance of the computer itsself.

I don't claim to have the baddest computer (it's a few years old now), but when I built it, it was FAR above anything you could buy in the store. Even for the systems that people were paying $2000+ for. Being a few years old, it lags behind many newer models, but it's still crazy powerful for what it is and what it's used for.

When it's time for a new computer, I plan on going the very same route. If you're able to wait the 6-8 weeks for the rebate money, it's the best way to go, IMHO.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

I'm rocking a year old PC atm... and I usually only re-build every 3-5 yrs, or as the market dictates.

That said... I spent about $2k on mine (everything -- all components -- new). But, the system is easily worth $5-6k if you were to go out and try to buy one comparable.

I went overkill with my computer specs, but I like my gaming, audio, and movies... plus I still dabble in gfx / webdev.

[Guest eyebedam]

I'm rocking a year old PC atm... and I usually only re-build every 3-5 yrs, or as the market dictates.

That said... I spent about $2k on mine (everything -- all components -- new). But, the system is easily worth $5-6k if you were to go out and try to buy one comparable.

I went overkill with my computer specs, but I like my gaming, audio, and movies... plus I still dabble in gfx / webdev.

No need to explain we all know you like streaming pron in HD quality.

[TripleDigitRide]

You can snag the OEM software (Windows, etc) for really cheap, when building a PC system.

Correct, again. The software can be had for dirt cheap, if you take your time. Most store bought computers come with all kinds of BS software that most people will never use, and you're paying for that garbage when you buy the system.

I spent a few weeks searching for deals on the software I knew I wanted. I was able to find Windows XP (No, not a pirated version) for $45 at the time. The same type of deals were found on most of the other softaware I'm using.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

No need to explain we all know you like streaming pron in HD quality.

[Luckyforward]

Computers...

Never buy (unless forced to - i.e. notebooks).

Always build.

/thread

A lot of things I am good at . . . knowing how to build a computer is not on the list. I would do it if I knew how.

Does anyone work with you to build your own?

Seems like a business opportunity to me, to teach others how to build their own.

[Guest Verbal Kint]

A lot of things I am good at . . . knowing how to build a computer is not on the list. I would do it if I knew how.

Does anyone work with you to build your own?

Seems like a business opportunity to me, to teach others how to build their own.

You'd be surprised just how easy it really is. The reason the top brands make so much profit, is that the average joe is scared of the unknown... especially when it involves staring at all those wires and assorted peripheral cards... and just finds it easier to point at a prefabbed machine in a box and then ring it up at the register or online checkout.

My brother pretty much walked me through the build process, at age 12, as I mentioned earlier. Since then, I've built every one of them on my own (probably 8 different machines for myself, another dozen or more for friends, and no telling how many when I worked in the IT industry). It's really that simple. The hardest part is choosing which components you want to assemble your build with. Not due to complexity, but just the sheer amount of options you can go with depending on what you are after.

I'm pretty sure there are DVD's out there covering the assembly of a PC. Never looked a them, personally, but I'm sure they're a good start. Also... many schools offer A+ certifications... and you can even get those off the internet nowadays. It's as easy as studying the material, taking the test, and paying like $90. Probably even cheaper nowadays.

Basically... if you have the mechanical skill to field strip a gun... and the common electrical knowledge to plug an appliance into a wall socket... you can build your own PC.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Verbal Kint

[shaftbass]

A lot of things I am good at . . . knowing how to build a computer is not on the list. I would do it if I knew how.

Does anyone work with you to build your own?

Seems like a business opportunity to me, to teach others how to build their own.

I'd imagine no one is patient enough to teach most people how to build a computer

But what smaller computer shops will do is guide you and take down what you want to spend, and what you want to do with the computer, and then they can assemble it for you. Most don't charge to assemble the custom computer if you buy all the parts from them.

But really, if you just need a cheap internet machine and don't play games, a low end pre-built computer or even a used (have someone who knows what they're doing look at it first) computer is the best option.

Edited September 13, 2008 by ReefBlueCoupe

[Guest db99wj]

Building them is fairly easy, my problems occur on getting the thing running correctly. Knowing what to use, what not to use. There is more stuff to conisder and it becomes very confusing to say the least for the guy that doensn't keep up with that stuff at all.

I got fed up with the last one I had so I bought one of those HP's from Wal-Marts and that thing is freak'n slow. I need to add some memory to it. I think.

I still have the old one, I need to kill it, then rebuild it, might have a decent machine after that.

[shaftbass]

Wal-Marts

Check www.crucial.com for memory upgrades.