Cheaper? or more expensive...???

galabanga · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:00

hmm, its getting close to the end of my holiday which means that I will be getting ready for either buying or building my desktop.

I was wondering, if it is worth buying a new computer from the high street or would I be better off buying some components and putting them together?

I have been talking to people I know, and the end story was something like If I get component by it self and put it all together, I wouldn't be able to get any warrenty? and if I get a desktop, lets say from d company I would get 1~2 years of warrenty.

this warenty being said... I was confused whether it is worth buying bitz by bitz. so... if anyone could tell me which would be more worth while?

King4aDay · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:05

galabanga said:
hmm, its getting close to the end of my holiday which means that I will be getting ready for either buying or building my desktop.

I was wondering, if it is worth buying a new computer from place such as the competitor or would I be better off buying some components and putting them together?

I have been talking to people I know, and the end story was something like If I get component by it self and put it all together, I wouldn't be able to get any warrenty? and if I get a desktop, lets say from dell, I would get 1~2 years of warrenty.

this warenty being said... I was confused whether it is worth buying bitz by bitz. so... if anyone could tell me which would be more worth while?

Buying the pieces seperately usually works out cheaper than buying pre-built from somewhere on the highstreet (by the way no mentioning competitors on the forums, probably best to edit your post), plus you get the advantage of putting together exactly the PC you want, rather than a pre-assembled one whihc often have shortcomings.

Components bought seperately have their own warranties, which are usually 1 year, sometimes more, or less if bought from the 'B-grade' section of OCUK.

If you feel confident enough to build one yourself (or know someone that is) then its probably the best way to go.

lee87 · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:05

I'd remove the name of the comptetitor before a don see's it.

If you build using components separatly you will still get warrenty. There is different warrenty on each of the parts, this can be between 1 year and lifetime.

Building your own computer will work out cheaper and you can get a much better system.

stoofa · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:24

You get much better components building a machine yourself.
You also get to choose exactly which componets you want.
Decide on your budget and then shop around.

As for cheaper - I'd actually say you can easily get a complete system for less than buying the components.

Yeah, going to have to edit that out, it's ok to mention them for specific items like their monitors but when it comes to availability and prices it becomes a competitor issue - Jokester

galabanga · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:40

hmm... thats confusing...

since I already have a windows XP pro, Would It be more sensible to actually build one?

Ive heard something about vista lately... buy I expect that vista to be pretty expensive when it comes out and takes more memory? compared to xp...

any way... still got about a month to go... I'll be comparing price and choose it...

Dureth · 3 Aug 2006 at 18:51

Ok if you already have XP then go for a self build from components. If you want a gaming PC then it will be cheaper and faster to build yourself. If your after a cheapy office machine then the cheapest dell is your friend.

All components you buy will have at least a 1 year warranty. Hard drives and graphics cards often have 3,5 or life time warranties and I believe CPU's and motherboards have longer than 1 year warranties too.

The only thing you don't have is "support" but if you can build your own then the support would be worthless to you anyway.