I'll echo the same. Unless you absolutely know what you're doing with your
system, I wouldn't recommend you have a system built. Luckily for you, you
have a good budget. But a three-year service agreement that will make sure
that someone will come up to your house when something goes wrong and
replace a part when you need it for no extra charge.
Pratik
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Terri Hedgpeth
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] New subscriber seeking advice
I also want to unscore every thing Mike and Jon have wrote. I'll just
add: is it better to have a team of 100 engineers put together a system
for you the customer that has a 99% no failure rate? Or some person who
knows how to pull a bunch of cards and components off the shelves, put
them together and send you off with something? You have know idea what
their background is.
On the other hand the big company likely fires someone that has to many
failures. And that group of 100 engineers were hired to spec out each
new machine group so that it does not come back. Big companies know they
lose money if this part isn't done properly. They also lose money if you
the customer calls the tech support line several times. That's not to
say that big companies are perfect, far from it. But your chances of
getting a system that will last a few years are much higher with them
then they are going with Computer Joe's shop.
Best of luck,
Terri
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John McCann
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 7:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] New subscriber seeking advice
Hello Missy:
I am going to support what Mike Pietruk wrote to the max...underline
max! I
would have said everything he said had I gotten to my keyboard before he
got
to his. In 2003, after my existing system had failed to be sufficiently
rehabilitated after having been ravaged by a virus, I did exactly what
you're now contemplating doing, i.e., wrote down all these great
specifications for my dream computer, and then went to Comp USA to have
them
put the system together. I paid two thousand dollars for the system, and
barely got a year of marginally satisfactory use out of it. For example,
the
sound card never worked right; I was never able to get on talk sites
with
it, such as "for the people". It crashed at least tent times a week,
making
my plans to run my own email server a joke. Since I had other things to
do
with my life than engage in a protracted fight with the vendor, for
fully a
year I very grudgingly accepted operating conditions far below those I
had
planned for. After a year, in total disgust, I decided to attempt
putting
the machine in service as a linux server. The same problems occurred, so
I
ultimately gave the thing away to be canabalized for whatever parts the
recipient thought were worth having. I replaced that horror box with a
Dell
8300, which has given me fantastic service lo these past three years.
My strong, strong advice; go to a mainstream company like Dell, HP,
Gateway,
perhaps Compaq (though I haven't heard that name recently); give them
your
requirements and specifications; then, in consultation, have them put
together your dream system. You can be relatively sure of two things
with
this approach, as Mike has pointed out: (1), all necessary drivers
should
work, and you can be quite confident that all the components will work
together; i.e., they'll get along and play nicely together, and, (2),
that
if they don't, or if there's any other problem, you have one point of
accountability, a company with a good reputation which they're invested
in
protecting.
HTH!
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Pietruk" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] New subscriber seeking advice
>I have hesitated responding as what I am about to say may not be viewed
as
> positive.
> Five years ago your approach made some sense; but these days, almost
any
> middle or top of the line system will give what you want and need for
a
> third to a half of the money you've budgeted.
> Buying a pc is no longer rocket science; most adaptive equipment works
> perfectly well with most pcs out there.
> And, I believe, you are more likely to run into problems with a
personally
> designed system rather than a commercially sold one.
> Just make certain that the system has the basic specs you want such
amount
> of ram, video, size of drives,
> types of drives, number of usb ports, et al.
> What it doesn't have -- or you later decide it needs to have -- can be
> then added.
> and what happens when this custom system runs into a problem, you
cannot
> find a driver upgrade, whatever.
> If you buy from hp, Dell, Gateway, et al, you have someone to go to
and
> 3rd party techs know how to work with those systems.
>
> with the custom built system, you may have a harder time later finding
> drivers, replacement components, whatever.
> Thhe last desktop we bought was for around $700; and the latest
notebook
> we bough was for $900.
> While you may decide you need to spend more, I don't think all that
much
> more.
> And there are plenty of people who bought $500 pc packages for
Christmas
> this year that have no complaints.
> In my opinion, you are making a mountain out of a molehill and overly
> complicating the process.
>
>
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