[geeks] Wow, PCs are cheap...

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Aug 23, 2008, at 15:09 , Phil Stracchino wrote:

> I only buy prebuilt if it's something I can't build myself, like a
> laptop, a printer, a monitor or a switch.  If I buy a system from,  
> say,
> Dell, sure, it's cheap ... but it's cheap because every component was
> supplied by the lowest bidder.

Most of the stuff you buy to build it yourself has the same issue.   
They cut corners to the bone, all of them.  About the only way to get  
a board that is not like that, just for example, is to buy an  
expensive server or gaming board.  Pretty much everyone else has been  
cut down to the bone.

Even Apple does it.

For my PC game and experimental machine, I always build that myself.   
I want certain parts and I have a nice case for it, and I don't have  
fixed requirements so I can't easily cut corners to save money anyway.

But for just a general purpose app runner... it will cost me more to  
build one than to buy one, so it's less attractive there.  I have to  
have a very good reason for building my own in those cases.

> "We ship the machine with one RAM module installed.  Why would it need
> more than one slot?  Sure, you have to take the entire machine apart  
> to
> swap out the power supply ... why, is that a problem?  ... Add a  
> second
> disk?  99% of our customers never need to do that.

If you don't want a machine with those limitations then don't buy it  
or build it that way.

If I am on a budget or working on a certain form factor, then the  
machines I build are just as limited as a cheap or specialized Dell.

> Our service center
> can replace the one disk there's room for with a larger one for only
> twice what the disk would cost you retail, and we'll have the machine
> back to you in three weeks or less.  ...Oops, sorry about your data."

By contrast, if your build it yourself you get no support at all.

I've yet to find any service and support that is worth much myself.   
I'm almost always better than them myself, so the only time they are  
helpful is if they can do the repair or work for free.

Otherwise, they are a waste of my time.


-- 
Shannon Hendrix
shannon at widomaker.com