Buying from Dell or build your own ?

Irish Gunner

Hi

Not the technically minded but checked with marx comp asking them to assemble a computer mainly for internet / email and burning along with enough usb ports and a cd rw & dvd r/w
However if anything was to go wrong I would not be in the 'know' to fix it. With Dell at least I would have some comeback ?
I have Windows XP pro and all the software I need but unsure.

Also what are marx computers like are they failsafe of did anyone have any problems with them

Cheers


www.marx-computers.com



> Here is a suggestion for a PC that suits your purpose:
> - AMD Sempron 2400+ (quiet cooler)
> - 256MB DDR-RAM PC2100/266
> - 300W ATX Midi tower (USB+Audio in front panel)
> - Asrock K7VT4A+ Via KT400A chipset (200/266/333Mhz FSB)
> - 64MB Radeon 7000 AGP4x graphics card
> - 40GB Hard drive UDMA100, 7200rpm
> - Floppy drive,
> - 5.1 Sound and 10/100 network on board
> - 16x/48x DVD-ROM
> - NEC 16x DVD-/+ Writer
> - PS/2 Keyboard + PS/2 Mouse
> - internal 56k Modem
> - 200W Speakers
> Price: Eur 565 incl. VAT
>

Sleipnir

Well, you still have warranty on all the bits plus replacing part etc is oh so easy.
There's an interweb thingy that can help with specific problems too.

The problems I have with Dell are.
-They are built with the cheapest parts Dell can find at the time.
- They are not designed to be upgraded. Ever. (apart from the entire thing)

For me, the cons of a Dell far outweigh the cons of building your own.
Marx will assemble it as good as Dell can as there's really nothing to it
"this bit goes here, that bit there"

RE*AC*TOR

if that is without an operating system and a monitor it seems too expensive. A Radeon 7000??? That's way out of date. You'll get a better deal from dell.

Keyzer

I would go for building your own.
You dont need to be technically minded, its like lego...
If your not confident, then find someone who knows a bit about computers and get them to help.

I would recommend www.komplett.ie for parts...

I bought a packard bell for my 1st pc, it was a nightmare, loads of hidden crap on it and it crashed all the time.

I built my own one not too long ago, it was cool, nice sense of achievment when it was running like a beasty.

joePC

The PC thats listed is about 2 years out of date, if you budget is about the €600 mark them I'd go with Dell,

You can buy your own DVD-RW and install it, Dell will charge to much.

Building your own PC is really the way to go.

Sites for hardware: jes.de , Komplett.ie

Thanks JoePC

Raskolnikov

http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301141&cks=PRL

€260 for a brand new machine, you can't go wrong.

Bri

I couldn't urge you strongly enough to not buy from Dell in terms of quality, customer service and so on. This has been the experience of many of my friends who've made the mistake I have.

Raz

Check out elara aswell. They have some pretty decent deals.
The link below is a pretty basic system but that seems to be what you're looking for, plus they give a minimum 1 year collect and return warranty.
http://www.elara.ie/products/performance.asp

# Motherboard : SKT A Motherboard
# Processor : AMD Sempron 2400+
# Memory : 256MB DDR RAM PC-2700 SDRAM at 333MHz
# Hard Disk : 80GB (7200rpm) IDE Hard Disk
# Optical Drive : 16x DVD±R/W Drive
# Sound Card : Integrated Sound
# Network Card : Integrated 10/100 Ethernet Adaptor
# Video Card : Integrated Graphics
# Keyboard : Keyboard and Optical Wheel Mouse
# Monitor : Relysis 17" CRT Black
# Operating System : Windows XP Professional - Recommended
# Additonal Storage : 1.44Mb Floppy Drive
# Warranty : 1 Year Collect & Return

Total: €747.93

Not bad including Operating System and Monitor.

dmeehan

Bri wrote:

I couldn't urge you strongly enough to not buy from Dell in terms of quality, customer service and so on. This has been the experience of many of my friends who've made the mistake I have.

also, be prepared for an onslaught of junk mail, at least twice a week from Dell

Irish Gunner

Hi

On the Komplett website you have to build your own from the components they sell you and this I would be wary off as building is not my strong point. I find it hard enough to put up a picture...

Also with Elara what are their PCs like are they out of date similar to the quote I got from Marx i.e Radeon 7000 I dont know what is more up to date than others

Cheers

Raz

Well with the Elara option there I was trying to budget close to the €600 price stated in the Marx quote. If you wanted you could go with one of their evolution PCs which starts at just un a grand and beef that up a little. At about €1500 you'd have a PC to rival Dells fancy blue one (extreme machine or some marketing crap like that).
If you're budgeting at about €600 you're going to have to settle for out of date components. You'll get something with a bit of grunt but not that much.

Irish Gunner

My budget stretches to €1500 at the most

Its just that I might have difficult in assembling it but might give them a ring

Cheers

Sleipnir

Well for 1500 the self-build would be incomparably better then the Dell.
Go self-build, buddy, you might even learn something (and it's really NOT difficult!)

aidan_dunne

Agree with everyone else here, self-built route is the best. Also, with a budget of €1500, you'll be able to build a pretty nifty machine if you do a bit of shopping around for parts.

Also, if you're not too keen on building it, find someone who knows their stuff to do it for you or give you a hand. Plus, there's loads of sites online with tutorials on how to do it. It really is pretty simple, just always make sure you're earthed as static is usually the main killer of components, e.g. RAM.

Any questions, just ask. There's tons of people on Boards who'll help you along the way as well.

Stephen

Even if you're not willing to build it yourself, surely you know somebody who's into computer hardware and could be persuaded to do it for you if you throw €50 at him?

Nukem

Bought one from them last sept,its outta date and i cant upgrade.
Asked them to build a nice one and it would cost my right arm & my left nut.
Build yourself,ask d lads and they will steer ya right all d time.
Way cheaper and you can upgrade whenever you fell like.

jessy

For anyone of us on the forum to build a pc is Childs play, but we are technically minded most us have build several pc’s, but for a non-technical minded person it can be quite a daunting task. It’s true to say that the parts them selves go together like leggo, but trying to buy compatible parts is not (for non-technical people). i.e. knowing what type of ram the m/b accepts even what socket is in the m/b(what chip it takes). and this is not to mention trying to get good parts for you money.

My honest advice is to buy one from dell/elara/jaguar/dabs. At least if something unexpected goes wrong then you know you didn’t do it (just send it back and get a replacement).

Judging by what you said you want the computer for, spending around 600euro will get you one that more than meets your needs.

Mutant_Fruit

The PC thats listed is about 2 years out of date, if you budget is about the €600 mark them I'd go with Dell,

Well, theres three changes i'd make to Marx's computer. I'd get more ram, at least 512mb. I'd get a better graphics card. You shouldn't be getting less than a 9600pro i'd say. And i'd get a bigger harddrive.

That'd set ya back about another 150 Euro, no more (i'd hope). I built a fairly similar PC a few months ago for 670euro including monitor + case + everything (except no OS), and i had 512 ram and a better GFX card.

Its quite possible that if you go with buying the parts seperately you'll save some cash, even if you do pay someone to piece it together.

ontargetrepairs

I run a computer repair business and i used to sell computers i built for years, basically you need to get a compatible processor,ram & motherboard after that you might have some issues with jumper settings on verious components, & also bios settings, i can Guarantee it wont run perfect on the first assemble, a bit of trial and error and you SHOULD get it running fine, eh also be shure to get a standard atx case when you choosing one, if yea need any advice my site is ontargetrepairs.com

Cheers Dave