How's ABS?

K

kprov

CAG Veteran
Hi all,
I'm going to be buying a new desktop PC in the new year (replacing my 3 y.o. Dell Dimension which is un-upgradeable). The new PC has to be pre-built which I know means higher cost, but I prefer the comfort factor of manufacture support over my own pathetic "expertise."

I want to get away from Dell because this new PC has to handle DVD and game software extremely well (I don't want a Mac). I could get a top-of-the-line Dell but I'm realizing that other manufacturers do better systems for cheaper.

Here are the places I've been looking at. Does anyone have experience with these companies? If so, how is their service (again, I don't mind paying more for the comfort factor of good customer service in case something is broken)?

ABS (looks the best, but is it?)
Gateway
Cyberpower
Alienware

I'm looking to spend up to $2000 on a system PLUS monitor PLUS a good service plan. I don't mind getting a graphics card and monitor separately (from Newegg or wherever) as long as the overall cost doesn't go over $2000.

Any comments appreciated, thanks!
 
[quote name='kprov']Hi all,
I'm going to be buying a new desktop PC in the new year (replacing my 3 y.o. Dell Dimension which is un-upgradeable). The new PC has to be pre-built which I know means higher cost, but I prefer the comfort factor of manufacture support over my own pathetic "expertise."

I want to get away from Dell because this new PC has to handle DVD and game software extremely well (I don't want a Mac). I could get a top-of-the-line Dell but I'm realizing that other manufacturers do better systems for cheaper.

Here are the places I've been looking at. Does anyone have experience with these companies? If so, how is their service (again, I don't mind paying more for the comfort factor of good customer service in case something is broken)?

ABS (looks the best, but is it?)
Gateway
Cyberpower
Alienware

I'm looking to spend up to $2000 on a system PLUS monitor PLUS a good service plan. I don't mind getting a graphics card and monitor separately (from Newegg or wherever) as long as the overall cost doesn't go over $2000.

Any comments appreciated, thanks![/QUOTE]
I know you don't want a Mac...but the Mac Pro might suit your needs perfectly...problem is that it will go over $2,000

I'll help you out later on...
 
[quote name='Jewelz23']I know you don't want a Mac...but the Mac Pro might suit your needs perfectly...problem is that it will go over $2,000

I'll help you out later on...[/QUOTE]

Stop spamming your Mac bullshit when people say they don't want a Mac.
 
I'm actually leaning towards CyberPower, because they have what looks like a great service plan (3 yrs lim. warranty, 24/7 phone support).

I cobbled together a system that looked quite good for my needs, it included the video card and monitor, and it came to almost exactly $2000. I crunched the same specs thru Dell and it would cost at least $3200 there. Also checked Newegg for product reviews and prices, and many things, like the monitor and video card, wouldn't have been much cheaper to get from there.

Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but will soon. Gotta do a bit more research.

If anyone wants to see the $2000 system I specced out, let me know.
 
I'd be careful with Cyberpower. Overwhelmingly, everything I hear about them is bad. The systems are often shoddily put togther, incorrect/bad parts, etc.

I'm sure someone's had a good experience with them, but most peopel haven't (or so it would seem).
 
I tried a Mac mini and a Macbook, both where ghey.
I ended up happy with a $500 gateway laptop over the $1400 Macbook. I dont have to worry about protecting the white case 24/7 and my upgrade and software abilities aren't as limited. Bootcamp was ok but still a beta. Diffrent strokes for diffrent folks.
 
My laptop from ibuypower has been nothing but problems. I got it and it had a bad MoBo from the start and restarted randomly. I got that fixed, but it took almost 2 months for it to occur, because they shipped it by a SHIP aka boat somewhere to get it fixed. Now it overheats constantly. Luckily, my Macbook will be here Thursday.
 
I wouldn't buy a laptop from them, but I like Cyberpower for a desktop. I put mine together myself, but Cyberpower was my second choice.
 
[quote name='such great heights']I'd be careful with Cyberpower. Overwhelmingly, everything I hear about them is bad. The systems are often shoddily put togther, incorrect/bad parts, etc.

I'm sure someone's had a good experience with them, but most peopel haven't (or so it would seem).[/QUOTE]

I'm checking the Reseller ratings on Cyberpower and ABS. Both are above average, ABS has a bit higher rating but CyberPower has almost twice as many reports. Most people seem very satisfied with it. A few report serious problems, but by no means is there universal disdain. The Better Business Bureau also has CyberPower on their list, and a grid of all the complaints that were dealt with--the vast majority of complainers got refunds or partial refunds.

It does seem that ordering a desktop from CyberPower is better than a laptop.

Now, ABS does NOT have a listing at BBB (unless they're using some other name), but they do have a presence on Reseller, which is good. They do not offer a 3 yr. warranty and 24/7 phone support, but they do offer a 1-yr. warranty and for another $40-$200 you can extend the warranty to include phone and/or on-site support (not sure if that includes part replacement).

ABS also does not have the same sheer number of component options as CyberPower.

A system at ABS equal to a system at CyberPower would cost about $200 more, not including an extended service plan.

So, what it boils down to is --- is it worth the extra $200-$300 to go with ABS, which has what looks like a more reputable customer service image, or go with CyberPower, spending less, getting more options, but taking a bigger risk on getting a POS?

Decisions, decisions.
 
I've heard good things about them too.

[quote name='Kendro']iBUYPOWER like CyberPower, is another good option. They are similar.[/quote]
 
I'm gonna have to make the recommendation that I make to everyone, build your own. www.newegg.com You say you prefer them over your "expertise", but with a little research and your better off building your own, if anything goes wrong you will be more fit to handle it, plus its just more fun.
 
[quote name='coolcps']I'm gonna have to make the recommendation that I make to everyone, build your own. www.newegg.com You say you prefer them over your "expertise", but with a little research and your better off building your own, if anything goes wrong you will be more fit to handle it, plus its just more fun.[/QUOTE]

Well....you're talking to a guy who had to spend 5 hours trying to figure out how to do "port-forwarding" so he could access remote as well as local peers for file sharing.

I admit, after those 5 hours of hair-pulling, swearing, and nail-biting, seeing those little Azureus smiley faces go from yellow to green was supremely satisfying...."I did it myself!"....but I can just imagine what building my own computer would be like. (10 hours? 15?)

What I COULD do is back up all my hard drives, then take the Dell I have now, disassemble it, examine the parts, and reassemble it and see how well I did. If it works, I'll feel better about building myself. If it turns to crap, well, I was getting a new one anyway......
 
[quote name='kprov']Well....you're talking to a guy who had to spend 5 hours trying to figure out how to do "port-forwarding" so he could access remote as well as local peers for file sharing.

I admit, after those 5 hours of hair-pulling, swearing, and nail-biting, seeing those little Azureus smiley faces go from yellow to green was supremely satisfying...."I did it myself!"....but I can just imagine what building my own computer would be like. (10 hours? 15?)

What I COULD do is back up all my hard drives, then take the Dell I have now, disassemble it, examine the parts, and reassemble it and see how well I did. If it works, I'll feel better about building myself. If it turns to crap, well, I was getting a new one anyway......[/quote]

Putting computers together is the easy part. All the parts really only fit one way. The hard part is finding pieces that play nice together and further more, making sure they work right when you get them.

The hardest part is matching up your motherboard, CPU and RAM. While it isn't hard hard, it can be confusing with all the socket types, ram speeds, form factors and such.
 
I've bought computers from ABS and Cyberpower in the past.

I never really had any problems with systems purchase there. I've bought 2 and know people who have also bought a total of 4-5 more. Never once a problem.

The last computer was from Cyberpower and I've had nothing but problems with it. I the time that I have had it, I have had to replace the hard drive, CD rewriter and the power supply. I had one fan on the motherboard crap out that caused lots of problems that took me a while to figure out. The price was great, but after rebuying half the parts, its not so good.

Bottom line, I'd stick with ABS.

TBW
 
Yeah, I'm still leaning towards ABS.

I started feeling my oats about building my own and researched components at Newegg. Then I compared prices to a similar ABS machine.

Here's how it boils down, pricewise:

From Newegg (I'm assuming this is one of the most reasonably-priced dealers):

ABS Stealth CS-05A2BL Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$119.99

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$219.99

eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
$419.99

Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
$189.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
$319.00

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024-5400C4 - Retail
$109.00

2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$189.98

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
$228.99

SONY Beige IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615 - OEM
$17.99

SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM
$32.99

Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
$178.99

Thermaltake CL-P0092 90mm 1 Ball, 1 Sleeve Cooling Fan - Retail
Model #: CL-P0092
$31.99

Microsoft Windows XP Home with SP2 - Retail
$189.99
Subtotal: $2,248.88

That doesn't include shipping, which I did not calculate, so let's assume that's an extra $100 at the very least.

Grand total: $2,348.88, and I'd have to build it myself, as a noob, with no extended warranties


Now, let's go over to ABS and put together the EXACT SAME SYSTEM:

ABS Stealth Black ATX Mid-tower Case (Black Color) (Item#ABS11215003) 1 Standard

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor (Item#ABS24116373) 1 $239

Black Polo Shirt with "Intel" Logo-L (Item#ABS00995022) 1 Standard

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (Item#ABS37110039) 1 Standard

Thermaltake toughpower 750W Power Supply (Item#ABS17153036) 1 $100

Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, NVIDIA nForce™4 SLI™ X16 Intel Core2 Extreme/Core2 Duo (Item#ABS13131031) 1 $0

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 1066MHz FSB 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 (Item#ABS19115003) 1 $170

Thermaltake Silent 775 CPU Cooler With Heatpipe Cooling Technology for Intel LGA775 Processors (Item#ABS35106048) 1 $0

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) 4-4-4-12 Dual Channel Kit (Item#ABS20145539) 1 Standard

NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card (Item#ABS14130071) 1 $209

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI (Item#ABS29102190) 1 $180

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

(For Two Same Size Hard Drive Only) RAID 0 Striped for SATA Hard Drives - Increase Performance (Item#ABS88101211) 1 Standard

SONY Black 16X IDE DVD-ROM Drive (Item#ABS27101131) 1 Standard

SAMSUNG 18 X SuperMulti Dual Layer DVD Burner with LightScribe (Black Color) (Item#ABS27151136) 1 Standard

2 Year ABS Day One Toll-free Technical Support (Phone Support Only) Coverage (Item#ABS99999270) 1 $39.99

Blue 8" x 9" x 6" ABS Mouse Pad (Item#ABS17114110) 1 Standard

ABS Computer System Binder for Organizing Drivers and Manuals (Item#ABS57101101) 1 Standard

Price with Option(s): $2,437.19

3-day UPS shipping would cost $99.

Grand total: $2,536.19

Difference in cost between Newegg components and ABS pre-built: $187.31.

ABS gives me some things Newegg doesn't. Yeah, most of it's crap (T-shirt, mouse pad, binder), but they put it together for me, give me a 1-yr. parts and labor warranty, and I can get 2 yrs. additional phone support.

So....bottom line....I can save myself $187.31 and spend hours and hours researching, planning, unpacking, and building my system, inventing new swear words along the way but at the end have a satisfying, fun time doing something myself and being proud of it at the end.....

...or I can just splurge the extra $200 and let some dude do it all for me.

If I were saving a lot more----at least $500 dollars, say----I'd seriously consider building myself, but ABS is just too good a deal.

Thanks everyone, you helped me stay cheap! :)
 
NO NO NO NO NO TO THERMALTAKE PSU

Get a Seasonic or a Silverstone (or an Enhance from eWiz.com, which I maintain is better than Newegg)

Also, Seagate drives are SLOW. SLOW SLOW SLOW.
 
Well you wouldn't buy the retail verison of windows from newegg, you would want to get the oem verison. Same thing just without the fancy box, that would save you $100 right there. Also why only 1 gb of ram? You should be getting 2 gb.
 
[quote name='kprov']Yeah, I'm still leaning towards ABS.

I started feeling my oats about building my own and researched components at Newegg. Then I compared prices to a similar ABS machine.

Here's how it boils down, pricewise:

From Newegg (I'm assuming this is one of the most reasonably-priced dealers):

ABS Stealth CS-05A2BL Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$119.99

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$219.99

eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
$419.99

Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
$189.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
$319.00

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024-5400C4 - Retail
$109.00

2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$189.98

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
$228.99

SONY Beige IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615 - OEM
$17.99

SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM
$32.99

Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
$178.99

Thermaltake CL-P0092 90mm 1 Ball, 1 Sleeve Cooling Fan - Retail
Model #: CL-P0092
$31.99

Microsoft Windows XP Home with SP2 - Retail
$189.99
Subtotal: $2,248.88

That doesn't include shipping, which I did not calculate, so let's assume that's an extra $100 at the very least.

Grand total: $2,348.88, and I'd have to build it myself, as a noob, with no extended warranties


Now, let's go over to ABS and put together the EXACT SAME SYSTEM:

ABS Stealth Black ATX Mid-tower Case (Black Color) (Item#ABS11215003) 1 Standard

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor (Item#ABS24116373) 1 $239

Black Polo Shirt with "Intel" Logo-L (Item#ABS00995022) 1 Standard

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (Item#ABS37110039) 1 Standard

Thermaltake toughpower 750W Power Supply (Item#ABS17153036) 1 $100

Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, NVIDIA nForce™4 SLI™ X16 Intel Core2 Extreme/Core2 Duo (Item#ABS13131031) 1 $0

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 1066MHz FSB 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 (Item#ABS19115003) 1 $170

Thermaltake Silent 775 CPU Cooler With Heatpipe Cooling Technology for Intel LGA775 Processors (Item#ABS35106048) 1 $0

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) 4-4-4-12 Dual Channel Kit (Item#ABS20145539) 1 Standard

NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card (Item#ABS14130071) 1 $209

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI (Item#ABS29102190) 1 $180

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

(For Two Same Size Hard Drive Only) RAID 0 Striped for SATA Hard Drives - Increase Performance (Item#ABS88101211) 1 Standard

SONY Black 16X IDE DVD-ROM Drive (Item#ABS27101131) 1 Standard

SAMSUNG 18 X SuperMulti Dual Layer DVD Burner with LightScribe (Black Color) (Item#ABS27151136) 1 Standard

2 Year ABS Day One Toll-free Technical Support (Phone Support Only) Coverage (Item#ABS99999270) 1 $39.99

Blue 8" x 9" x 6" ABS Mouse Pad (Item#ABS17114110) 1 Standard

ABS Computer System Binder for Organizing Drivers and Manuals (Item#ABS57101101) 1 Standard

Price with Option(s): $2,437.19

3-day UPS shipping would cost $99.

Grand total: $2,536.19

Difference in cost between Newegg components and ABS pre-built: $187.31.

ABS gives me some things Newegg doesn't. Yeah, most of it's crap (T-shirt, mouse pad, binder), but they put it together for me, give me a 1-yr. parts and labor warranty, and I can get 2 yrs. additional phone support.

So....bottom line....I can save myself $187.31 and spend hours and hours researching, planning, unpacking, and building my system, inventing new swear words along the way but at the end have a satisfying, fun time doing something myself and being proud of it at the end.....

...or I can just splurge the extra $200 and let some dude do it all for me.

If I were saving a lot more----at least $500 dollars, say----I'd seriously consider building myself, but ABS is just too good a deal.

Thanks everyone, you helped me stay cheap! :)[/quote]

There are so many things wrong with that configuration it would take me a long time to write all the problems with it, lol I'm lazy. Go post this on GameFAQS and someone should give you a PC better than Alienware for $2500. Seriously, that PC is under-powered for such a high budget. 1 gig of ram? No 10,000 RPM Raptors? Your wasting hundreds on a power supply, retail version of XP, and a sound card.
 
[quote name='kprov']Yeah, I'm still leaning towards ABS.

I started feeling my oats about building my own and researched components at Newegg. Then I compared prices to a similar ABS machine.

Here's how it boils down, pricewise:

From Newegg (I'm assuming this is one of the most reasonably-priced dealers):

ABS Stealth CS-05A2BL Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$119.99

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$219.99

eVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
$419.99

Thermaltake toughpower W0117RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 750W Power Supply - Retail
$189.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
$319.00

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X1024-5400C4 - Retail
$109.00

2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$189.98

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
$228.99

SONY Beige IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615 - OEM
$17.99

SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBN - OEM
$32.99

Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
$178.99

Thermaltake CL-P0092 90mm 1 Ball, 1 Sleeve Cooling Fan - Retail
Model #: CL-P0092
$31.99

Microsoft Windows XP Home with SP2 - Retail
$189.99
Subtotal: $2,248.88

That doesn't include shipping, which I did not calculate, so let's assume that's an extra $100 at the very least.

Grand total: $2,348.88, and I'd have to build it myself, as a noob, with no extended warranties


Now, let's go over to ABS and put together the EXACT SAME SYSTEM:

ABS Stealth Black ATX Mid-tower Case (Black Color) (Item#ABS11215003) 1 Standard

ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor (Item#ABS24116373) 1 $239

Black Polo Shirt with "Intel" Logo-L (Item#ABS00995022) 1 Standard

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (Item#ABS37110039) 1 Standard

Thermaltake toughpower 750W Power Supply (Item#ABS17153036) 1 $100

Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, NVIDIA nForce™4 SLI™ X16 Intel Core2 Extreme/Core2 Duo (Item#ABS13131031) 1 $0

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 1066MHz FSB 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 (Item#ABS19115003) 1 $170

Thermaltake Silent 775 CPU Cooler With Heatpipe Cooling Technology for Intel LGA775 Processors (Item#ABS35106048) 1 $0

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) 4-4-4-12 Dual Channel Kit (Item#ABS20145539) 1 Standard

NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card (Item#ABS14130071) 1 $209

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI (Item#ABS29102190) 1 $180

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (Item#ABS22148140) 1 $0

(For Two Same Size Hard Drive Only) RAID 0 Striped for SATA Hard Drives - Increase Performance (Item#ABS88101211) 1 Standard

SONY Black 16X IDE DVD-ROM Drive (Item#ABS27101131) 1 Standard

SAMSUNG 18 X SuperMulti Dual Layer DVD Burner with LightScribe (Black Color) (Item#ABS27151136) 1 Standard

2 Year ABS Day One Toll-free Technical Support (Phone Support Only) Coverage (Item#ABS99999270) 1 $39.99

Blue 8" x 9" x 6" ABS Mouse Pad (Item#ABS17114110) 1 Standard

ABS Computer System Binder for Organizing Drivers and Manuals (Item#ABS57101101) 1 Standard

Price with Option(s): $2,437.19

3-day UPS shipping would cost $99.

Grand total: $2,536.19

Difference in cost between Newegg components and ABS pre-built: $187.31.

ABS gives me some things Newegg doesn't. Yeah, most of it's crap (T-shirt, mouse pad, binder), but they put it together for me, give me a 1-yr. parts and labor warranty, and I can get 2 yrs. additional phone support.

So....bottom line....I can save myself $187.31 and spend hours and hours researching, planning, unpacking, and building my system, inventing new swear words along the way but at the end have a satisfying, fun time doing something myself and being proud of it at the end.....

...or I can just splurge the extra $200 and let some dude do it all for me.

If I were saving a lot more----at least $500 dollars, say----I'd seriously consider building myself, but ABS is just too good a deal.

Thanks everyone, you helped me stay cheap! :)[/quote]
There are so many things wrong with that configuration it would take me a long time to write all the problems with it, lol I'm lazy. Go post this on GameFAQS and someone should give you a PC better than Alienware for $2500. Seriously, that PC is under-powered for such a high budget. 1 gig of ram? No 10,000 RPM Raptors? Your wasting hundreds on a power supply, retail version of XP, and a sound card.

Edit - Now I see that your not going through with building it, but just using it for comparison's sake.
 
[quote name='Thongsy']Well you wouldn't buy the retail verison of windows from newegg, you would want to get the oem verison. Same thing just without the fancy box, that would save you $100 right there. Also why only 1 gb of ram? You should be getting 2 gb.[/QUOTE]


I just bought the thing yesterday, and did decide to get 2gb of ram. Originally I was only getting one hard drive but decided to add the extra. Plus having two sticks of 1 gb each is better than having 2 at 512 that would need upgrading at some point anyway.

As for the poster above you, I don't see what's so wrong with the Thermaltake; I see no evidence of a company recall or widely reported defective Thermaltakes on the market. Same with the Seagates. So if you're just expressing personal preference, that's fine. But I made no decision blindly, if that's what you're trying to imply.....but thanks anyway!

The system should arrive by the end of the week....I'm very happy with what I got for the price but I'll give this a good inspection when it arrives.
 
you can definitely save more than that, get an OEM windows cd, saves good money. I recently helped my friend build a computer for his brother, everything off of newegg, I'll try to get the list of the parts he got and post it later.
 
[quote name='dandragonrage']NO NO NO NO NO TO THERMALTAKE PSU

Get a Seasonic or a Silverstone (or an Enhance from eWiz.com, which I maintain is better than Newegg)

Also, Seagate drives are SLOW. SLOW SLOW SLOW.[/quote]

Seagate drives are slow? Really? All the professional and user reviews could have fooled me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top