Building or Buying a Computer - Where to buy a computer or PC parts

You can't save money building yourself a low-end PC that's perfectly adequate for web surfing, word processing and watching the occasional DVD. Sure, you can come up with a collection of parts online that will make it look like you'll come out ahead, but in the end, you'd have to steal Windows XP somewhere to make the price work out the same as buying a manufactured PC with legitimate software. It's just a matter pricing power. A company that is selling a hundred or a thousand identical PC's a day can get much better pricing on components than you can, and actually putting together a PC only takes a trained assembler a couple of minutes. In other words, the labor cost doesn't amount to $5, whether it's done in the US, in Mexico or in China, so it really comes down to parts pricing and shipping costs. Here's the kicker. It's actually cheaper for somebody to ship you an assembled PC than for you to order up the all the parts from the same place, because the assembled PC ships in one smaller box!

That doesn't mean you shouldn't build your own PC at home, in fact, I'm all for it or I'd never have written a book on the subject. But you should understand going into the deal that it only makes sense to build your own computer under certain circumstances. These are:

You want to learn how as a hobby
You want a high end gaming machine
You want a standard PC you can upgrade in the future
You have special requirements

The first reason, because you like building things as a hobby, is an answer in itself. I've known people who've ordered up the parts, slapped a PC together and never thought about it again, and I know kids who have dragged it our for weeks or months, researching components, buying books, creating a work space, etc. It's entirely up to you, and if you really enjoy building PC's, you may find it a good way to break into work as a technician for a local store or doing service for friends and family. I have several chapter from my book about starting your own computer business online, including the chapter about buying and selling PC hardware. It is a tough way to make a living, and you can't expect to get very far just building and selling PC's because you won't be price competitive with the big guys.

The second reason, to build a gaming machine, is actually the best reason to build rather than buy a computer. Yes, there are some specialty makers of gaming PC's with mean looking cases (the magazines are full of their advertisements) and companies like Alienware do build high quality PC's from high quality components. However, you can buy those same components yourself, and usually save quite a bit of money doing it. They might get better pricing than you on the highest speed CPU within a family, so you might want to consider dropping a couple hundred MHz and putting the extra cash into a bigger power supply, even more RAM, or some extra neon:-) The real win comes with the fact that a high-end gaming PC is only at the top of the hill for a few months, and then faster components become available. You'll be able to upgrade your PC with confidence, you'll know exactly what you're buying, and you won't have that scary feeling of cracking open the case of a $3000 PC that you've never been inside before.

The third reason is you want a standard PC with a quality case that has room for future expansion, so in another year or two you can upgrade the CPU or the motherboard and the CPU together, bringing your computer up to the current standard for a hundred or two hundred dollars, rather than buying new. You can't do this with cheap computers, because even if they use standard components, they use the minimal implementations, with cheap power supplies, limited motherboard capabilities, cramped cases they pass off as "slim" or "compact." The only fly in the ointment is that when you start thinking about upgrading your existing PC, you'll often catch yourself saying, "This thing works fine for what it is. Why don't I give it to my kid, or my sister's kid, and build myself a new one?" I've done that about a half dozen times over the last decade or so.

The fourth reason to build your own PC is that you really want a custom job, for which any big name maker will charge you an arm and a leg. For example, if you want a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives), high performance SCSI drives, multiple CD or DVD recorders, multiple video cards, etc, you're better off doing it yourself. This includes mod-PC's, of course, I mean, the whole point of modding a PC is that you do the mod yourself. Your requirements don't have to be super-special before the economics turn in your favor compared to standard Dell configurations, for example. They really get you when you move away from their base configurations, changing for example, a CDR for a DVDR. If you want a quick idea of what the actual value of a component is, just check it on pricewatch.com. Just keep in mind if you pick the cheapest price for every item, not only will you end up with a pile of junk, but you'll pay a ton in getting the parts in from all the lowest cost vendors.

When it comes to buying cases for a build, I actually prefer getting them from a retail store, where I can get a good look inside, get a feel for the size and weight, take note of the features that just don't jump out at you on an internet advertisement, like how the side panels are removed. I've become a big fan of Antec cases over the past few years, and I don't have any problem with just going to the nearest CompUSA and buying one. They're cheaper by mail order, but it's a big heavy box so shipping from California to your house on the East Coast will be over $10. Plus, if there's a problem, returns are a bear because you end up paying for shipping twice, and waiting a good week or two for turn-around.

If you decide not to build and you're wondering where to buy a computer, I took that exact question from both a nephew and a brother-in-law in the past week (they were both asking for other people), and I gave them the same basic info. First, if you have a neighborhood PC shop that's been in business long enough to convince you that they'll be around, give them a chance to help you determine what you need and make you a price. Next, go to salescircular.com and check what's on sale in your state at the big electronic chains. Salescircular lists all the available rebates, in addition to giving exact model info that will clue you in if the same computer is for sale at BestBuy and CircuitCity and is $50 cheaper at one or the other. Yes, you'll pay sales tax, but there's no shipping charges involved (and I've heard Dell can charge as much as $80), and you can bring it right back if something is missing in the box or it's DOA. Finally, there's the straight mail-order option, from name vendors like Dell or Gateway, or major parts vendors who sell whole PCs, like TigerDirect or NewEgg.

If the decision whether to buy or build a PC is making you crazy, just imagine how I feel trying to make up my mind I should buy a house or build one:-)

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