I tried a number of companies and they all seem bad.
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I tried a number of companies and they all seem bad.
Vadim seem to be the only good one although I have no experience with them. Dells are ok if you wipe the hard disks and re-install windows (they have loads of crap on them).
none are, building it yourself is the best optionQuote:
Originally Posted by pop66k
Amen!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by moogle
Aye, built mine a few weeks ago and havnt looked back since...Quote:
Originally Posted by moogle
It's definitely worth looking into building your own if it's a PC for yourself. It's really quite easy now, and actually quite enjoyable!
If you're getting it for somone else and are just looking for a good place to buy a system, I'd reccomend Dell but as mentioned, you'd be wise to format and re-install Windows when you first get your machine.
that has to be one of the vaguest statements i've ever seen :)Quote:
Originally Posted by pop66k
pop - which companies have you tried?
As for building your own vs getting a manufacturer's pre-built one, I personally build my own because I know exactly which components I want, but if I'm ever recommending a PC for someone that just wants it for general internet stuff and so on, I usually recommend Dell or HP, because if they need the entire package (base unit, monitor, OS, printer etc) then it's going to be extremely difficult for any self-builder to get new components to beat the price of some of Dell's weekend paper specials for example.
Bear in mind that building your own PC isn't always without it's issues. It's not necessarily the case that companies that supply components are any better (or worse, of course) than the big manufacturers.
My best PC producer is me... I'll never buy a company built one.
Depends entirely on what you want, how much you want to pay..what you will do with the system.Quote:
Originally Posted by pop66k
For example:
Do you want a gaming optimised one?
Do you want 24/7 great support?
Do you want a pretty/modded computer?
Do you want a HTPC?
Do you want a general pc for a bit of everything?
How much money do you want to spend?
Those questions all affect who you would go for :) If you have enough skills to build your own PC then that is the way forward in 99% of cases, but if you want real support or dont have the skills to make it yourself then buying is a good option.
Many online stores (such as scan, aria) offer complete (often customised) systems, although i've never used one from either of those companies. There are also several big names - Dell (for a-bit-of-everything computers and good support), Alienware/voodoo-pc (gaming/modded), Mesh (general again)..to name but a few companies.
A good place to start is http://trust.hexus.net/ where you can find user-submitted reviews of most of these companies.
You get the most value for money by building your own, although sometimes Dell comes out with some really good deals.
Not always :)Quote:
Originally Posted by benstation
Building your own from quality parts is quite expensive - and buying a pre-built one can be around the same or less by the end of it, especially if you factor in your time.
Building your own from elCheapo parts (eg jetway mainboards, none-major ram etc) does tend to be cheaper, but ofc you get lower quality parts :) It all depends on what your after
:woowoo: I am the best PC Producer in the world. lol
If you can build it, then you are the best.
Whoever you go with, just pray you dont get a lemon.:)
I'd be a bit peeved if i paid all that money for a lemon!Quote:
Originally Posted by vicar
but it always is better, as you know what you are getting. like my friend, he bought a pc from mesh. he doenst know much about building pcs but when i went to look inside, the motherboard was a mATX and it only had 2 memory slots, both full with 512MB of ram sticks. leaving him with a very crappy upgrade path.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spud1
Personally I'd vote for Evesham. Just make sure you get one of their PC mag review specials which always work out a fair bit cheaper than other similar systems they stock.
I was going to build my last system but the Evesham system I bought instead was over £100 cheaper than I could buy the components for elsewhere. I quite liked the covenience of having it built, delivered and warrantied for 3 years as I'm lazy like that :mrgreen:
Personally I would vote for Scan, saying that tho I would say that wouldnt I :D
SecondedQuote:
Originally Posted by Carlh
I built my own but seeing the effort and build quality these guys do puts me to shame. I just want mine built quickly as possible but our guys are just perfectionists.
Always good building your own but as we know 80% returns through USER error lol
:)
Quote:
Originally Posted by moogle
Totally agree. If you cant, then just buy the parts and get someone else to assemble it for you.
Take a look at the top part of these forums. There is a company here that sell PC's and after looking at the threads in their section(s), i certainly would entertain giving them my hard earned.
So did my father-in-law :Oops:Quote:
Originally Posted by moogle
He just ordered it and never said a word until it arrived.
He was sick when i told him i could put something together for him that was twice as good, with branded parts (not that generic stuff) and that i couldve done it for a few hundred less.
He even paid for their technical supprt RTB stuff. WHY?????????
Its not exactly rocket science is it.
I used to build all my machines but to be honest I really dont have the time any more. Im in my mid thirties, I have a professional job, partner, mortgage and all the stuff that goes with it. I love gaming, well, I love the technology that makes modern games (fancy graphics, surround sound, high res etc) but I just dont have the time/inclination to put together my own boxes anymore. I want commodity computing! I'll buy it and it should work. I have warranties and people come round to my house to fix it if it goes wrong. I still have my own abilities to address most issues of course but I would sooner pay the premium to have someone else address them.
Back to the OP, I have used Mesh in the past with zero problems.
Who is the best PC manufactuer?
HP for corporates
Dell for home
Performance PCs I have no idea on.
maybe to you but can your Grandad build it? speaking on forums to people who maybe can build computers you probably will get a lot who will agree but this is a small minority compared to the amount of people out there who either don't have the knowledge, the time or patience to build their own. I would say to 3 out of 5 people say they know what their doing when really they don't. Just because you get your computer to boot into windows does not mean you have set the pc up correctly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
All in all judging the amount of returns and NFF on products sent back I can honestly say that there a more people who don't understand the basic setup of a computer than people who do. For instance I play, eat sleep and drink football which is an everyday feature in life but my girlfriend knows sod all about it.
Support is always good to have especially from a ruputable company as we have testing failities and close contact with manufacturers for fixes and ongoing support.
£3000 on a PC no support - self testing countless problems
£3150 + with Onsite support- Proffesional build-peace of mind
I know which is worth it saying your spending a lot of money.
:)
I see you point but......do you really believe that the engineers that repair machines sent back to them on warranty actually know any more than most of us here?
If we are all being honest then they dont do they.
I'll give you a great example. At work we bought a PC from an Interent only retailer (keep the name secret).
It packed up and it was obviously the Hard Drive that had gone down.
5 days later the repair technician turned up and took the side of the case. It took him nearly 5 hours to decide it was the hard drive.
And before its mentioned, no, he wasn't looking for other faults, he just had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.
Not only that, once he decided the HD needed replacing it took him 45 minutes. :lol:
BTW Paul. Imho, using your example, anyone that doesnt know enough about PC's to build their own, when spending £3k, is daft spending that amount in the first place.
Why is it daft to spend that amount? for example; If I have just left University and started my own business and I needed a PC to do high quality video editing/capture and musical composition but did not know the first thing about hardware I would not go out and spend £3000 + on parts or would I go to my local supermarket and buy a PC for less than £400, my work required I used a card like the Canopus EdiusQuote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=349231
so it would be daft for me to spend that much even though it would make my work much easier and in the nature of the business time and quality is the essence?
Your judging your view off your one bad experience and hope your not naive enough to think this is the case with every engineer?
I do think engineers know more than most people about computers as that is not hard considering how many people live in the uk I never mentioned "here" AKA Hexus I meant the general population. And if you are asking about engineers knowing more than US here then isnt Hexus forums for people who need information and how to build pcs and a general knowledge base? etc.......
Your Engineer
Plus finding a fault on a pc that is not native to you (you didnt build) is not always that easy especially when you knew it was the hard drive but didnt have the curtesy to point the engineer in the right direction.
Anyway I like building my own computers too :)
First I'd be more worried that your FIL ordered it without asking you, obviously he doesn't think you are as good as you do. Maybe its the way you proceded to Lord it up over his inferior hardware.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
There is nothing better than HP or Dell for home users imo, simple, easy to use and simple(ish) support. They are also very cheap.
Dell for cheap stuff, you just cant beat their prices usually and pretty good support. Scan if you want a bit more control/grunt, and is you have money to throw at it Vadim.
Personally i build my own, but i know how to fix them. More important than knowing how to build one :P But if you have access to the internet when something goes wrong you'll be fine as google or here will usually give you what you need.
Well, i was working in America for 4 months at the time he ordered it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeTuk
I haven't 'Lorded' anything up either. After we discussed the price we had a few pints and left it at that. He just wanted the technical support factor. It made him feel safe that if anything went wrong it wouldnt cost him money for new parts. Nothing to do with the building of it.
To say there is 'nothing better' than Dell or HP machines for homes users is a ridiculous comment. Where they come into their own is that they are cheap. If you upgrade them so they are actually useful for anything more then they become far far from cheap.
They may be good for word processing or surfing the net but what you say is nothing short of a blanket statement.
It is daft if you're not using it for a specialist purpose. It's not daft to build your own for 3k, but i wouldn't pay that kind of money for a prebuilt desktop. (obviously a high end HD video editing card such as the above is probably not going to be on a general prebuilt pc component list..)Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulm@scan
I'm assuming that the three grand quoted was in reference to a gaming rig?
Has to be said, my poor old nan was gutted when she tried to fit her custom bespoke water cooled usb solution into her £400 Dell she used for a little email to her daughters little-uns. Silly Nan...Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
mucho respecto...Quote:
Originally Posted by noTHINGface
:bowdown:Quote:
Originally Posted by noTHINGface
I don't know where this stuff about un-upgradeability comes from. My F-I-L bought a cheap HP mini-tower PC under recommendation from me a couple of years ago. It's got spare memory slots (and even if it didn't, you could just replace the RAM anyway), an AGP slot if he ever wants to upgrade the video card, room for a second HDD... How is that any less upgradeable than any custom PC built around the same time, that's just intended for everyday mainstream use?
I think (whether you may believe so or not) that with some self-builders there's a small amount of snobbery. "Surely a LARGE CORPORATION can't supply a system suitable for the needs of most people? I am the best! Me!". It's not like it was a few years ago when everyone could easily build their own PC from top-class components for far cheaper than the big name brands. Those times have passed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
Suppose you'd like to be woken up at 4 in the morning by your father in law asking why he can't get on the Internet next time you go off to work in America or wherever for a good chuck of a year, then? Sounds like it's a good thing he went the prebuilt route, because even though you might be able to diagnose problems 10 minutes quicker then a technician, I doubt you could do it 24/7.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitzen
Lenovo ("IBM") for laptops, oh yes...!Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgeTuk
hehe....exactly!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarffie
It was just an example really. For the money he paid he did OK i suppose.
TBH i dont even think he's used it more than 5 times in 3 months anyway. :rolleyes: