Make your own or premade?

[SweatyOgre]

My mom wants to buy a premade Compaq, and I want to build our computer from parts myself. Which is better with reasons to back it up? I plan on showing this to my mom, hopefully swaying her.

 

[x42bn6]

Make sure you don't show her the chick thread by accident.

Making it yourself is definitely the best, no doubt, but you can trust the commercial vendors like Compaq.

But I'd do it myself.

 

[Korittke]

Make it yourself, that is get a company to build it for you if you don't know how to do it yourself or don't want to spend a day screwing stuff on your computer. (maybe 40$ cost at the most)
If you chose your components wisely you will have a big advantage in the overall cost. Usually you want to do this on the internet somewhere and compare prices for your full computer.
My comp was about 1,500 back then, the same setting in a Compaq, HP or whatever type of premade computer would have been a sure 2,200 or probably even more. And don't pay for the operating system, just download it

 

[OMGLOLWTFPWN]

You can't download Windows XP... It needs activation. But you could use whatever OS you have on your computer right now (although if it's windows 95 or less you might not want to). I would say building your own is a good idea if you can find the parts for cheaper online. If you aren't sure how to put it all together then you can probably find a store to do it, or the website might even assemble it before it ships.

 

[WQ87]

Building your own is cheaper. You can probably build something better than a company can offer (price/performance ratio).

 

[ORC-r0x0r-ROC]

Yeah, building your own tends to be a lot cheaper, but the premade ones seem to be more stable . If you want to pay like £500 extra.

 

[jd-inflames]

I build my own and my friends mainly because I stand by my work and I can fix theirs a lot easier if I know exactly what was put into it.

Advantages of building your own is: It's cheaper, you will know more about your PC on the physical standpoint, you can put in the hardware of your choice and brand of your choice instead of getting proprietary hardware.

Prebuilt: Less hastle...yeps, thats all...oh yeah, and a warranty

 

[Korittke]

Originally posted by TreeFrog123
You can't download Windows XP... It needs activation.

The corporate version of Windows XP doesn't need activation.

 

[SweatyOgre]

Thanks for the help guys, but I didn't get a chance to show it to her and we got an HP. But it's super beefy. Omg, I love this comp. Just to brag, here's my specs:

3.0 ghz processor
512 mb ram, upgrading to 1 gig soon
160 gig hd
dvd rw/cd rw
secondary cd-rom drive
128 mb geforce video card

 

[aphextwin]

mine was factory made and im ashamed of it

 

[IceDevil9]

Since I'm a big geek, I love sitting around and tinkering with my machines, so I'd definatley say building it.

The advantages are you knw exactly what's going into your machine, and you know how to fix any hardware problems that may occur.

Cost-wise you can save around 1,00-1,800 on price by building it yourself and buying the parts, but that really depends on what you purchase. if you purchase high-end stuff, it might costy you around the same but only if all you purchase is high-end stuff.

Factory made depends ony our uses. Factory made machines aren't generally good gaming machines, but are good for E-Mail and internet pruposes and usually good for uploading pictures from cameras, although if you have a higher-end camera (like those new DVD Camcorders), you'll need a Hi-Speed USB Card to upload those.

That's just my 2 cents, and I'm still learning about hardware and such, so you might be better going with someone else's advice, although I got the info from 2 of my uncles, who both know a lot about hardware and computers, so, your choice.

-Frank

EDIT - oops, too late, posted this before reading yours. Congrats on your new comp...I guess =/