What are the pros and cons of buying a pre-made system like the Sony VAIO or a Dell Dimension?

What about custom systems? What are their pros and cons? Do the pros of custom rigs outweigh the pros of what companies like Dell and Sony can offer?

:edit:
I'm stupid.

What are the pros and cons of buying a pre-made system like the Sony VAIO or a Dell Dimension?

What about custom systems? What are their pros and cons? Do the pros of custom rigs outweigh the pros of what companies like Dell and Sony can offer?
I built my own computer system from scratch and will probibly do it again. I like to know what goes into a computer and I would say that when you do it yourself it makes it easier to troubleshoot a problem.

Incidently, I do not trust computer techs on the phone. Most of them are guys who read a script and have no real knowledge.

I did buy a Dell System once before because I have heard their customer service was "second to none." Well I can say, as a person who works on a help desk that their service sucks sucks sucks! Its almost as bad as Best Buy and I will never shop at Best Buy because they are so lousy.

Usually pre built rigs aren't upgradeable, custom ones are.

I'm having a friend build me one. He charges $150 to build it and offers a three year warranty. And it's upgradeable. :)

3 gig processor
130 gig HD
1 gig of RAM
DVD burner
DVD drive
and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember, all for $1075 bucks.

It'll be high speed enough to play online games that aren't even out yet. :nice: Right now I can't play any online games. :(

I think custom is the way to go because you actually have full control over the quality of the components you put in it.

I have a compaq now, and REALLY like it.

My last computer was custom made. It was about double what a ready built system was.

The reason I got it was because I thought I needed a fancy video card, sound card, more memory etc. But the ready built systems accomodate upgrades. It's very simple to take out compaqs video card and put in a fancier one, or put in more memory, change the dvd player etc. Dell and others are MADE TO ORDER. Is that the same as custom? Well, I believe it is.

The other thing that happened was that the comp. builder will tell you that they can upgrade a custom made one easier. Not really. The custom one I bought could only be upgraded ONCE!! Then they had to reinstall everything. How do you think they make money over and over? Not by little things like pulling out video cards, but by rebuilding it. So they didn't tell me everything, just part of the truth.

In addition, I got 1 year warranty from compaq. The dvd player wasn't working, pulled it out, sent it back and they sent another one free. Try that with a custom computer. They won't touch it without payment.

Last point - every problem with the computer the first year, every one, was handled over the phone. Compaq spent about 5 hours with me when there was a virus. Software, hardware, whatever, no charge for technical help. I dare you to call a custom builder and say you need help with a virus. Yea, right. :rolleyes: They charge a minimum labor rate of $50 per hour. That ONE call would have cost me $250 had I gone with a custom built. Compaq, Dell etc. will extend the parts and labor warranty for another year.

I have a compaq now, and REALLY like it.
In addition, I got 1 year warranty from compaq. The dvd player wasn't working, pulled it out, sent it back and they sent another one free. Try that with a custom computer. They won't touch it without payment.
I get a three year warrenty with my custom computer. If it breaks, I take it to him and he tears it apart, pays to ship the defective part for replacement, then reinstalls it. :)

I have a compaq now, and REALLY like it.
I dare you to call a custom builder and say you need help with a virus. Yea, right. :rolleyes: They charge a minimum labor rate of $50 per hour. That ONE call would have cost me $250 had I gone with a custom built. Compaq, Dell etc. will extend the parts and labor warranty for another year.
Same as above. Covered for three years and free. :)

Yeah, when you buy custom components, each component usually comes with a standard warantee...

last pc i built was a 486 DX... my new Dell is great and all, but i'll be building my next rig. just easier to install what i want, how i want it.

He charges $150 to build it and offers a three year warranty.

Wow, that's amazing he can build a computer so economically. Good you found him!


( :rolleyes: )

Yeah, when you buy custom components, each component usually comes with a standard warantee...

Of course, it's up to you to know which "component" is broken.
Since you know so much about computer "components," why don't you build your own?

I do. My desktop is home-made.

Wow, that's amazing he can build a computer so economically. Good you found him!


( :rolleyes: )
Why roll your eyes? The guy builds them cheap enough and warranties them for three years. What's so bad about that? I'm sure you could find someone in your area to do the same. (Providing that you don't already know how.)

Jay, why are you so against custom computers?

My current computer which I built from scratch a couple of years ago:

ABIT KG-7 Raid motherboard
Two 7200 RPM 80 gig hard drives in Raid 0 array
Athlon XP 1800+ processor
1 gig of DDR memory
DVD + CRW drives
Geforce3 video card
Soundblast Audigy sound card
XP Home Edition

It's run flawlessy since I very first put it together and powered it up on day one. Plus, it's an immensely satisfying thing to build your own computer (there is no computer more personal than one you've built yourself). It was a screaming system when I first built it and all the components were top of the line, but it's starting to show it's age a bit on a some of the newer games; it's about time to build another one.

I Mines been built up as I go along. Only original things in it now are the case itself, motherboard, CPU and Power unit. My Next major upgrade will probably be replacing those and moving everything else over to the "new" computer. But its fine for my needs at the moment (up to over 1/2 terabyte of hard disc space now :) )

hugs

lilnymph

(up to over 1/2 terabyte of hard disc space now :) )


:eek3: :eek7:

Woah.

All 4 PCs in my house are home built. This way I apply the trickle-down upgrades. Upgrade the main system, whatever it displaces goes down the line to teh next, etc.