> Then by your own account you did not value your time or your daughter's time by deciding to build those desktop computers.
No, you misunderstand. See my comment in #48:
Note: Sometimes the experience gained in DIY is very valuable -- might be hard to quantify, but it can argue in favor of DIY too, especially when acquiring a new piece of technology.She wanted to learn about multi-boot. Building one was the best way to gain that experience. There was no consideration of "saving money", "getting a computer on the cheap", etc. in that activity.
Remember, my comments about valuing one's time have to do with being honest about adding up the cost of a "cheap" PC. An intentional learning experience is a completely different goal.
She wanted to learn about multi-boot. Building one was the best way to gain that experience. There was no consideration of "saving money", "getting a computer on the cheap", etc. in that activity.
Remember, my comments about valuing one's time have to do with being honest about adding up the cost of a "cheap" PC. An intentional learning experience is a completely different goal.
I understand the tactic, but I don't understand how you expect it to work. We're presented with the argument that you simply cannot build a computer cheaper than you can go out and buy a new Mac,after you figure the cost of your time to build it, and the value of warranty and support.
The premise is that there is no warranty if you build your own. The reality is that if you bought good quality parts, they all came with a warranty, and vendors of major components provide support like firmware and driver updates and support forums. As far as support goes, it's unlikely that someone who buliding their own computer would have much need for outside support.
You submit that you've built your own, but only as an exercise in learning about multi-boot. Setting up multi-boot is simply a matter of OS installtion options, and possibly bios settings if you're wanting to select boot from different physical devices. You can do that with off-the-shelf systems just as well as what you built yourself.
The bottom line is that absent needing a very specialized piece of hardware, there will never be a reason to not buy a Mac, and there will be lots of reasons not to buy something else. The explanations may not make sense, but there will be a lot of them.