Is it really a great deal?

[catacon]

I was wondering if the computers put out by HP and other brands that are sold at Best Buy and Comp USA that have huge amounts of memory, mega hard-drives, and awesome moniters are such a great deal. Are they really as good as they sound, do they have the reliance of custom built comps? Just wondering, they sound too good to be ture.

[doctorgonzo]

Yes, they are too good to be true in general. These computers prey on the fact that many people just look at gigs and megs: the only things they are concerned about is the processor speed, hard drive size, and amount of memory, and they want the highest possible. Of course, the devil is in the details. They use components that are older and therefore cheaper, but that aren't obviously lower-performance. If somebody sees "80GB HD", they aren't going to look further to see that's a 5400 RPM drive, nor are they going to know what that means. Ditto for RAM technologies. The stuff that people really don't care about, such as motherboard, chipset, number of free slots, and so on they are really going to skimp on.

If people want a store-bought computer I tell them to buy a Dell. Those ultra-cheap computers with the great-looking specs aren't a good deal.

[HAL9000]

I agree... people also tend to think it's an HP or IBM, so it must be good... they can build junk too.

[catacon]

I have also heard that Dell will sometimes put old parts in their sale comps, so I guess they can be lazy and dishonest too.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by catacon I have also heard that Dell will sometimes put old parts in their sale comps, so I guess they can be lazy and dishonest too.

Dishonest? Whatever do you mean?

Cricket

[lpc300]

I'm sure some of you have had the same experience as I. A friend of mine wanted a top of the line system. He was going to buy a Dell, but I conviced him (reluctantly, I might add) to let me build it for him. The system turned out spactacularly. When I delivered and set it up for him, I had an added surprise. I showed him the price; then I showed hime the price of a Dell system with comprable components. His system cost $2100. The Dell cost $4800. I'm not saying that major computer brands use poor components, but generally one finds higher quality components in a self-build.

[catacon]

My family needs a new computer (we have a Gateway, who are also dishonest idiots) and I have been looking at Dells, but I have begun to realize that they are very expensive and if you build your own, you can really get what you want without having to deal with dishonest morons who just want money and not customer satisfaction.

[mountainking]

lol its too bad that computer companies dont care about the ultimate consumer... only thing they care about is money. money money money. Its real sad that our whole society these days runs around money IMO. If a computer company came out and made computers and were actually HONEST about what you were getting and didnt give you crap for parts in it, then maybe they'd do ok. All of those computer companys out there put onboard video... all except for alienware. Just because that isnt looked into when people buy a computer... do you really need 1 gig of ram if you have onboard video? just my two cents.