Hi Robert, how's it going tonight?
I have to agree with your analysis about buying from a reputable dealer instead of doing a "build your own". There is a great divergence of quality levels among the various components for sale. You pretty much have to have double the number of parts to be able to check if anything goes wrong. That way you can test power supply, hard drive, motherboard etc. Even then, you have to worry about software driver levels and compatibility with operating systems. Finally, there is Microsoft, who it could be said never met an operating system that didn't crash.
They proudly boast that Windows XP does not produce the "blue screen of death". That's great, it doesn't. But if there is anything wrong with the install,or it is in bad mood, it will reboot all by itself when you least expect it. There is no hint or warning it is going to do it. Maybe some other users will weigh in about that.
The premium a dealer charges for an assembled unit to your specs is usually not much. If he has a good return and/or support policy, then he is the guy who has to worry about your problems.
I have lots of extra parts so I can usually sort thigs out without too much pain. Also, I only use top line parts which helps too. I like the NVidia chipset, as I said before, but I buy from the better known assemblers who. of course, charge a little more. I won't buy the boards that are 30% cheaper because these assemblers have to make shortcuts somewhere and it is usually at the consumers expense. Also, you might criticize NVidia for selling their chipsets to any Tom, Dick or Harry.
Good luck and keep us informed. |
