Barebone PC OR complete PC

[rkr1958]

Dell mini towers (clam shell) (not slimline models) upgrade just as easy as any other computer I've worked on. If not easeir!

Upgrades to a 4300 over the past 2 1/2 years
new CPU
added RAM
new ATI aiw AGP vid card (it also has onboard Intel vid)
new HDDs
new DVD-RWs
added Firewire/USB2 card
added SCSI card
added Tape drive
added 21" monitor

Wow ... That must have been some trick to get that 21" monitor to fit inside the mini tower.

[burnman99]

I prefer to build it myself.

Totally agree. It's not the having, it's the building, and besides you get what you put into it.

Later

Rog

[normcar]

Pre-built systems are ok, and Dell is still the best in this area. But I learned so much about the computer when I built my own, that I gained more than the few extra $ I saved or overpaid. I can get much better performance by upgrading over time, and I don't have to worry about voiding a warrantee, which is the best part about purchasing a Dell in the first place. I once called Dell about upgrading the video card in a Pentium 450 I purchased from them, and they told me I could not upgrade the video. This was complete BS. I upgraded the video, and used the machine until last year. If you use Dell, or others, you are at the mercy of the particular support person you happen to get on a particular call. Also, MS will not support some of the Dell or HP versions of windows. So again you are at Dell's mercy about a part of the system that is not their specialty.

[dukenukem]

WEll i would say for a total newb who wants to surf the net and watch some videos or play some games go with a pre-made comp,but if you want more choice just build it yourself that way you get to learn alot more of how a pc works.I have had my emachines etower533i since 1999 and it is still going strong.It has a 533mhz celeron,96mb pc100 sdram(got free 64 meg otherwise it would still be 32megs),8gb seagate hdd,15 inch crt which died in 2003.I have added a 22 inch nec multisync Fe1250+ crt used and gotten an external cdburner which does good for my needs. But eventuallt i am going to save up and build myself one once i get a job.

[ruteger]

love to build mostly as ive learnt a fair bit (never enough tho and i prefer to know whats what so im not getting ripped off and know what it is i really need and its a most satisfying feeling to bring it to life and make it work , ive built about 15- 20 in the last 2 years and for loads of different purposes all complete customer from cheapie to wannabe gamer with more $ than Cense ......and all of em fun to create

but as one poster wrote (i think or perhaps a dream i may never have had) it all depends on what you want from a computer ...

in my poor excuse for an opinion - email ,turf, etc buy a basic low end pc dealie thing with freebies and extras and warranty , video editing serious to hardcore gaming and the like , build your own and read ALOT before you start , its a brave new world ....and lastly if you want a fridge , from all reports buy a mac for its why a mac is a mac , it just works , you switch it on and it works , like a fridge itll do wot u want (again from wot ive read as ive havent used on since my very first apple 2e , but do u really use the built in egg holder ?
anyhoo now im rambling so have fun whatever way anyone decides to go

[normcar]

When purchasing a motherboard and video card, or any part, which you are not knowledgeable about, you may want to do a google search on the part before deciding to purchase. I purchased a combo CPU and Motherboard, but I had many problems with the motherboard. When I did the google search, I discovered the problems I experienced, were unresolved. I returned the 2 items, and started my search for a different Motherboard. If you do the google search first, you may save yourself problems and a lot of time.