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Posted on 01/27/2005 9:59:05 AM PST by ecurbh
BBL, Matthew just barfed.
Check what the mail would charge. I've been pleasantly surprised sometimes to see how little they charge if you don't want the thing immediately.
According to FedEx, my parts are on the truck to be delivered this afternoon. It's a question of can I beat the truck home, or will I have to drive up and fetch the parts tonight...
According to the USPS website, it is too large for them to ship.
Another possibility is to look into taking it with you as cargo on your flight back from the wedding.
It is a good idea...it's been two Mondays now that I've put an update up...
I'd just soon put up a link...
I'll look in to it...
So...the new computer plan for the Stormhands household is this...
We upgrade and replace the main PC I use. It would also be Luke's option for game playing.
Jr. gets the current PC set up in his room.
Mom gets the laptop to use for school.
Knowing my limitations, can y'all walk me through 1) what I should get and 2) the possiblity of building it myself.
I bet a label could just be slapped onto it. I would think so, anyway!
If it was truly possible, we should work out details! I could certainly pay something beyond shipping. Especially once I sell off some furniture. ;-) Should be in the next couple of weeks!
FWIW, it still may be just as cheap to buy something new or used in Vermont.
Possibility of building: can be fun, if you're willing to put time in. Can be frustrating beyond all reason. How good are you with fairly finicky enclosed work? I mean, getting the jumpers onto the motherboard can take some maneuvering.
If you decide to build, the first thing to decide is what sort of processor you want. That will determine what motherboard you can get, and the motherboard will specify everything else. The system I'm putting together has a P4 3.0 gHz chip, 800 bus speed, 512mb of ram, a 120-gig hard drive (I'm going to add another drive in a few months), wireless networking card, video card, and a cd burner. Total cost for parts: ~$425. Newegg.com has about the best prices on computer parts and I've never met anyone who has a problem with purchases from them.
If you do buy, I'd recommend Dell refurbished. Don't get a Celeron processor, get a Pentium.
Okay, I need to think this thru and ask someone to translate all that into English. I'm sure I'll have more questions.
Thanks. ;-)
But I like the idea of usin' something that has had previous adventures. ;-)
True, but it is taking up space in the barn, we probably will never use it again, and I would like to get rid of it. This seems like as a good a way as any.
Only if you set up a website.
I'm not trying to disparage your gift offer ecurbh. Just trying to help think thru the practical.
If I were you, I'd go with a refurbished Dell. We have three in the family at this point, and they've been good systems that didn't cost all that much.
Mine is the oldest - a laptop that's approaching four. Haven't really had any trouble with it that wasn't my own fault in the end. It IS starting to have parts wear out, as I've mentioned...but considering how hard I've been on it, I can't complain.
I wouldn't wanna build a system myself. The benefit is that you know what goes into it, and if you LIKE that sort of thing (I don't), it can be a fun project. Also, if you catch the right sales, you can potentially save a bit of money, though not as much as was once true.
Downside is that you have to contact the manufacturer of different components if you have a failure, and know enough to KNOW which component has failed in order to do that. No one stop shopping for service. And you obviously won't have a warranty on the full system.
Ditto. I bought some RAM and hard drives from them last summer. Tigerdirect.com also has some pretty good deals, but I have not yet had occassion to purchase from them.
Ruh Roh Raggy!
They have some fantastic prices if you keep an eye out. I was highly tempted by a 200gig hard drive for $120, but decided to hold off on that for a while. I'll put in a slave drive and more ram later.
They're fast, too; I ordered parts Friday and they'll be here today.
Right, it's a challenge, and you ought to have some basic hardware knowledge. I rather love it, but I'm weird.
I'm saving money, since I can put the cash right where I want it instead of having to upgrade fifteen times to get the specs I want, but a casual user probably would be happier with a default Dell configuration.
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