build or buy

[offroadjosh]

I have $650 to spend on a computer, should i build or buy?

wants-
Dual core
reliability
quiet
coolish looking
usb ports
wireless
fastish..(used for some video watching but mostly just surfing and light game playing.



Josh

[port1]

   I always build my own, but $650 won't get you high performance, just moderate, especially if you reuse many of the components, such as memory, power supply, case, etc.
 
Good Luck, sir.

Henry

[offroadjosh]

I am really leaning towards building since i dont need a ton of speed, just a good computer.


Josh

[WeatherHost]

Hold off for a couple of months until Windows 7 hits the market.

[offroadjosh]

lol nope im putting XP on it:P


Josh

[Anthony]

I say build. It will be a good learning experience for you. As for the looks. They don't mean a thing to me. Looks has nothing to do with how the performs.

 

[ncpilot]

I don't want to jinx myself, but my weather computer is one I built first to be a home theater computer (didn't work out), then I added weather later. I went online with weather on Nov 2005, so I had it running before that. The only problem has been a video card that died (never worked right anyway for home theater), otherwise it's been 24/7 (which some might argue is better for the electronics).

If you build, you can select components that fit your need, but also most likely will be of much higher quality than contained in any off the shelf computer...

[offroadjosh]

Thanks guys=) I  have decided to build my computer=)


do i have my list correct for what i need???

Mother board/cpu
Case/Power supply
Video Card
Hard drive..or hard drives... havent decided
DVD.RW  player(dont remember exactly what it is called lol)
wireless card
atleast 2 120mm fans




Josh

[George Richardson]

Hey Josh,
Watch the expandability of your MB. Remember, weather Stuff likes serial ports. Boltek uses PCI card. My video card covered one of my PCI slots (real PIA). RAM may be in play so do you have 2 or 4 slots for that. How many USB ports do you need (in the back) not counting temporary front slots. Plan for a while so you don't come up short in six months.
FWIW
George

[offroadjosh]

Thanks George! Im actually making a list on what parts i need to build it, which includedsw what i want  it to have like things such as 3-4gb RAM, lots of usb ports, a couple PCI slots(this is going to be a none weather computer). and so on. so im reallly hoping i dont come up short haha. Anyone know of a site thats better than newegg.com?


Josh

[Garth Bock]

I didn't see any memory listed on your shopping list. Building is great fun but remember to keep all your warranty cards in one place. That is the reason I started buying Dells. My last home built I had a warranty for the MB, HD, Video card, etc.  The places I bought from had only a 30 day on the purchase and then went on the manufacturer's warranty. You might want to buy from one place only to reduce the purchasing problems. Also be ready to be your own support guy. I had a video problem on a homebuilt and the video card support guy blamed the MB and the MB guy said it was the video card drivers....yada yada yada. You might want to try a barebones system. That is a case, P/S, MB, Proc (sometimes). Add memory, HD, O/S and accessories and your ready to go. You will find you will be spending about the same or a bit less. You might want to look at the MSI Wind with the Atom 330 (dual core).

Some places to shop:
www.tigerdirect.com
www.geeks.com

[SLOweather]

There have been a lot of good tips here, things I was going mention like warranty service, support, etc.

FWIW, I built my new weather computer around a Dell Optiplex 755 N series. (N Series means No OS. It comes with a FreeDOS disk to keep things legal.) Then I put XP Pro on it.

Got a Core 2 Quad processor and 3 GB RAM. Quiet, too. (It's really cool to see the 4 core graphs in Task Manager/ Performance...)

755s were recently superseded by the 760 model.

On the Dell website, click on For Small And Medium Business/Desktops and Workstations. Then in the left menu, under Operating System, click
FreeDOS and Linux, for the selection of N Series machines available.

If anyone wants one of these, build a quote, tell me exactly what you built, and I'll see if I can beat the price. We're a Dell Premier Partner.

[Anthony]

Do you really need a DVD R/W drive? Wouldn't just pain old CD R/W drive be enough? As for every thing else. Sounds like a plan.

[mackbig]

Do they still make CD burners?

Samsung dvd burner at tigerdirect C$34.97  (u$29.99)
They only list one cd burner and its a special slim usb one for laptops at $163, they have over 40 DVD burners.

Andrew

Do you really need a DVD R/W drive? Wouldn't just pain old CD R/W drive be enough? As for every thing else. Sounds like a plan.

[gwwilk]

Poke around on Newegg for several days before you pull the trigger on anything.  I recommend them because of their reliable shipping and competitive prices.  I assembled a 2.8 GHz dual core Athlon64 X2 65 Watt 45nm, 4GB 1066 memory, DVD/CD burner, steel mid-tower case, MB with NVidia GeForce 6100 built in graphics, GB networking, and digital sound, and a 640GB WD caviar green HD--all for under $300.  I put it on a KVM switch so I didn't have KB, mouse, and monitor to add.  The Windows Experience Level was 3.1 to 5.9 with the video coming in at 3.1, so the machine was rated at 3.1.  I added a $50 GeForce 9400GT video card and brought the windows experience up to 5.0 on the video with everything else at 5.9.  This machine is running Windows 7 Ultimate RC which is just Vista debugged and streamlined.

Newegg ships free on lots of items, and they use guaranteed 3 day shipping.  No, I don't have any relationship with them other than being a happy long-time customer after spending years fooling around with Pricewatch and such.

[Garth Bock]

There have been a lot of good tips here, things I was going mention like warranty service, support, etc.

FWIW, I built my new weather computer around a Dell Optiplex 755 N series. (N Series means No OS. It comes with a FreeDOS disk to keep things legal.) Then I put XP Pro on it.

Got a Core 2 Quad processor and 3 GB RAM. Quiet, too. (It's really cool to see the 4 core graphs in Task Manager/ Performance...)

755s were recently superseded by the 760 model.

On the Dell website, click on For Small And Medium Business/Desktops and Workstations. Then in the left menu, under Operating System, click
FreeDOS and Linux, for the selection of N Series machines available.

If anyone wants one of these, build a quote, tell me exactly what you built, and I'll see if I can beat the price. We're a Dell Premier Partner.

I have been picking up Dell Optiplex GX620's small desktops from eBay. They are single core but have more than enough horsepower for what I need. I have been playing with Dell workstations to servers here at work for the past 11 years. Very trouble-free. I am looking at getting a Shuttle with an Atom 330 (DC) for the weather station to cut power and save space. I have a Dell mini 9 with the Atom 230 and it moves pretty good. I looked at the MSI Wind but I like the ability to expand.

[Anole]

There have been a lot of good tips here, things I was going mention like warranty service, support, etc.

FWIW, I built my new weather computer around a Dell Optiplex 755 N series. (N Series means No OS. It comes with a FreeDOS disk to keep things legal.) Then I put XP Pro on it.

Got a Core 2 Quad processor and 3 GB RAM. Quiet, too. (It's really cool to see the 4 core graphs in Task Manager/ Performance...)

755s were recently superseded by the 760 model.

On the Dell website, click on For Small And Medium Business/Desktops and Workstations. Then in the left menu, under Operating System, click
FreeDOS and Linux, for the selection of N Series machines available.

If anyone wants one of these, build a quote, tell me exactly what you built, and I'll see if I can beat the price. We're a Dell Premier Partner.

I use Dell Optiplex WSs in my office and steer all my customers towards them. They are great machines and additionally they carry a 3-year next business day warranty. They are just about bullet-proof in my experience.

Dimensions on the other hand ....

[bcavnaugh]

Vostro 420 Tower $646.00
PCI: 4 Slots
PCIe x1: 2 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slot
3.5" Bays: 5 bays (1 external; 4 internal)
5.25" Bays: 3 bays
Memory DIMM slots: 4 available
Video: DVI, VGA, HDMI with add-in PCI-Express video card
USB: 10 USB Ports (4 front, 6 back)
Audio: Three back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone-in, two front-panel connectors for headphone-output and microphone-in
Other: 1 Serial, 2 PS/2 for Keyboard and Mouse, 1 RJ-45 10/100/1000, 1 eSATA,
350W, 115/230VAC (Equipped with Selector Switch) 50/60Hz
 
Vostro 420 Tower

 Date   8/3/2009 8:14:28 AM Central Standard Time
 
 Catalog Number   4 Retail 04
 Catalog Number / Description   Product Code   Qty   SKU   Id
Vostro 420:
Vostro 420 Tower   V420LG2   1   [224-5456]   1
 
 Processor:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7400 (2.8GHz, 3M, L2Cache, 1066FSB)   WE7400   1   [311-9972]   2
 
 Operating System:
FREE Genuine Windows Vista® Business Bonus w/ XP Professional downgrade Installed a $99 value   XP33BDP   1   [330-4197][420-7658][421-0320][467-7024]   11
 
 Hardware Support Services:
3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service   Q3YOS   1   [982-9402][983-4250][990-9622][991-1810][992-2988][992-2997]   29
 
 Primary Hard Drive:
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™   80GB72K   1   [341-4988]   8

 Productivity Software:
No Pre-installed Productivity Software   NOSFW   1   [420-7281]   22
 
 Security Software:
No Pre-installed Anti-Virus/Security Software   NOPRTCT   1   [420-7262]   25
 
 Monitors:
No Monitor   NOMON   1   [320-7206]   5
 
 Memory:
3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ - 1x2GB 1x1GB   3GB800   1   [317-1881]   3
 
 Optical Drive:
Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive   16XDVD   1   [313-6963]   16
 
 Video Card:
256MB ATI Radeon HD 3450 -supports DVI,HDMI,VGA Connections   3450HD   1   [320-7202]   6
 
 Removable Storage:
No Media Reader   NOFD   1   [341-7810]   10
 
 Modem and Wireless:
No Modem Option   NOMODEM   1   [313-5469]   14
 
 Sound:
Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio   INAUDIO   1   [313-6962]   17
 
 Documentation and Power Management:
Vostro 420 Documents and 110 Volt Power Setting   DOC   1   [330-1721][330-1722][330-1723]   21
 
 Labels:
Vista Premium Downgrade Transactional Desktop   VPDGTD   1   [420-8546]   750
 
Windows 7 Upgrade Program Info:
Windows 7 Upgrade Web Site   WIN7UP   1   [468-3168]   461 
 Adobe Software:
Adobe Acrobat Reader   ADBRDR9   1   [410-1858]   15
 
 Speakers:
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)   NOSPKRS   1   [313-5461]   18
 
 Keyboard:
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell USB Optical Mouse   KBOMS   1   [330-0077][330-1725]   4
 
 Mouse:
Mouse included in Bluetooth selection   MSINWRP   1   [330-1727]   12
 
 Resource Media:
Resource CD and DVD   RCDDVD   1   [330-2436]   27
 
 Quick Reference Guide:
Vostro System Quick Reference Guide   REF   1   [330-1731]   775
 
 Network Interface:
Integrated PCIe Gb NIC Ethernet   INT   1   [430-3246]   13
 
NDS Weather

[eric799]

Dell has a really good outlet's website and financial services site that I would suggest taking a look at. The outlet's website if I remember correctly are refurbished machines. Financial Services are returned leased machines (typically business caliber). May be a cheap way to go. Just a suggestion.....