If my last post, and the fact that I'm typing this one on Saturday night (Valentine's day, no less) haven't made it obvious, I'm rapidly falling back into full-fledged computer super-geekdom. As this has transpired, I've realized that I'm long overdue for a PC upgrade, having assembled my last machine sometime in the 90's. Needless to say, it's really not cutting it anymore.
Thinking I didn't want to mess with the hassle of building a PC myself from a huge parts list, each decision carefully scrutinized, and the rock-bottom price found at the least shady internet retailer I could find, my search took me to Dell. I did some configuring of boxes, and pretty much came out with 'what I need', at just north of $1500, which is what I was using as my target price point.
Of course, this exercise in sanity was short lived, and I went back to my old process of procuring a PC, which is to order everything on it's own, and put the whole thing together myself.
How do the two processes compare? Glad you asked....
So, the table below lays out the two choices I have. The Dell model and the Custom. Currently, I'm leaning towards the Custom.
| Dell Box | Custom Box | Custom Cost | |
| Processor | 2.8 Ghz Pentium , 533Mhz FSB | 3.0 Ghz Pentium 4, 800Mhz FSB | $230 |
| RAM | 1 GB of 333Mhz DDR | 1 GB of 400Mhz DDR | $164 |
| Hard Drive | 120 GB 7200 RPM SATA | 160GB 7200 RPM SATA | $128 |
| Video | Nvidia GeForce 5200 FX | Asus Geforce 4 Ti4200 | $125 |
| Optical | 48X CDRW/16X DVD-ROM combo | 48X CDRW/16X DVD-ROM combo | $47 |
| Display | Dell 17" Ultrasharp LCD | Hitachi 17" LCD | $411 |
| Case/Mobo | Standard Dell Minitower, Intel 865E | Supercool Shuttle SB62G2, Intel 865G | $324 |
| Total | $1497 | $1428 |
Now, the Dell costs is before a $100 Mail-in rebate, but also before shipping/tax, which basically cancel each other out. The total cost of shipping for the custom items is $15, the monitor being the only item that requires a charge, based on it's bulk, I presume. Everything else ships free FedEx.
The Dell also comes KB/mouse/Windows, all of which I won't be needing.
Plus, I'm in a position to value the process of experimenting with alternative form factor PC's. It just looks more like a "toaster" than a regular Dell box does. And the Shuttle has a blue power LED. That's huge cool points with me.
My mind's pretty much made up. Maybe next time I'll be lazy enough to get a Dell.
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