Buy or Build a New Computer

[tdave00]

I have 3 desktops in the house and the fastest one is 700mhz. I desperately need a new faster computer (for pvr, making video's, etc). I have found a dell for $599 with XP MCE and a 17" flat panel (Dell 2.8 ghz w/hyperthreading and 17 in flat panel) Should I even mess with building one for myself at that price? If so, what chipset and processors would you recommend? Thanks

[capone]

I am a long-time system builder, but it's inscreasing not worth it.

It used to be worth it to get a decent price or decent hardware, but both those things aren't an issue anymore. It's also nice to have an OS lience up front, and have someone to call and compain to for once.

[tdave00]

Ok...two more quick questions then. Would you spend another $90 on the computer above to upgrade to 1gb of ram (it's at 256 now)? Also it's $40 to go from a 80gb to a 160gb drive (just bought one of those last week though). What are yours or anyone's thoughts?

[capone]

More ram/HD is a good idea, PVR or otherwise...just shop it for the best deal. I would probably trust dell for the ram (esp so it matched up w/ the existing sticks), but HDs are cheap everywhere. I would even go larger if you can afford it.

[stefan]

Yes, you'll probably get tired of 80 GB pretty soon... the PVR tends to fill up all the time ;-)

[valkokir]

Is dell using proprietary power supplies? I recall a while back they were just different enough to make them proprietary. I do have a few dell branded soundblaster live cards that won't work in anything but a dell. It can also be difficult or impossible to put the system in a different case.

I agree about the OS license thing, but having someone to complain to? Their help desk goes to India and they have a flow chart that they follow, they have no computer knowledge in my experience.

I lost faith in dell when I spent a summer setting up their machines in a school system and found a machine that they had accidentally dumped an entire box of the little bezels that surround the power button into a computer case. There were like 150 of them in there. If there was any quality control going on there they would have noticed that the case sounded like a box of legos when you picked it up. Of course the system no doubt powered up but if it had been a box of scres instead it would have been a different story. That said, their systems do work pretty well and you can't beat the prices for what you get.

[4zm4r3d02]

We had Dell computers where I used to work, and there was no way to install extra hard drives in them. There were no drive bays, except those for the CD and floppy drives, and only one mount for the included hard drive. The cable from the motherboard to the hard drive only had one connector! The upgrade instructions in the manual were for replacing the included hard drive, not for adding another.

I don't know if this is true for all of the computers Dell sells, but you should be prepared for this possibility, and you may want to get all of the upgrades from Dell when you buy the machine, which can drive up the price very quickly. On the other hand, you can be reasonbly sure that all of the hardware will work together, something that can be VERY problematic when you "homebrew" your own system.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out for you.

[capone]

Both those posts say things I just didn't mention. You really want to look at the retail unit carefully to see if you can do what you want w/ it. Best bet is to try to find a users manual PDF on the site and read it. Some won't be the helpful, but you may get an idea if you can add card, drives, etc. Also consider just calling to ask. It's your money, so find out first.

As for support, yes, you'll end up 1/2 across the world, and I'm not really thinking about phone support here. It's more being able to call and say, "it's busted", and getting service (help, parts, repalce, returns). Bascially, not being stuck w/ something that comes busted or defective (w/in the warrenty period).

[scott]

Here's my experience - Spent November 04 - November 05 fooling with a home built computer. Cost me almost nothing (lots and lots of rebates), but took so much time that I no longer enjoyed the process. Was plagued by crashs here and there...

This weekend, a coworked gave me an old Dell PIII, 1 Ghz. Spend minutes after putting XP on the box getting GBPVR running. My old machine was a P4 with a gig of memeory. This old Dell has 256MB - and it rocks! I can even timeshift live tv with no studdering.

Can people build their own machines and get a deal - and even build better, badder machines than you get off the shelf? Absolutely, but when you concider getting that Dell, you also know that the memory, chip sets, etc. have all been pretty thouroughly tested for compatability.

That means that someone on my level gets a good solid machine and can move on to the next project, like expanding my home network and running running MVP's to a couple rooms.

For harddrives - Seagate is good, quiet and honests with Warrentees. I would get a regular sized drive for the OS, your family pictures, programs, etc. The get a Giant Seagate drive when a good rebate comes along (keep on eye on edealinfo.com ). After installing second hard drive, map GBPVR to that drive.

GBPVR will be happier having a harddrive all for itself and you won't be stressing your main hardrive with constant read/writes. Remember to format the second drive at 64 blocks - and truth is, you'll regret getting anything less than 250 GB - seriously. Or just use the 160 GB drive you bought last week until you feel you need more!

All the best!

(ps - my two Dell of current and past have had extra HD bays...)

[capone]

Just currious, why 64k blocks?

I have GB on the same drive, but map the stored videos, live buffer, and recordings to other drives. I never thougth to put GB on the recordings drive, just to avoid problems w/ everything expecting to find it on C.

Is there an easy way to point/map it to another drive w/o a reinstall?

My setup works fine, but since this is a GB-only box, I'm always interested in different ideas.