Comments on: Open Thread: What's Your Hardware Strategy?

By: Emilian

Emilian — Sat, 03 May 2008 23:49:10 +0000

Mac laptops. Maybe pay someone else to build me a PC as a cheap storage / computing workhorse.

By: Scott Blitstein

Scott Blitstein — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:34:16 +0000

In the past I would usually build my own but my last desktop need came at a time when I just didn’t want to be bothered with it. I wanted to take it out of the box, plug it in, and have it work. Since then I’ve moved on to my laptop.

I feel a bit disconnected with the current hardware available now so would really have to do quite a bit of research before jumping back in. Would probably be a good exercise to get back up to speed though.

By: Eric S. Mueller

Eric S. Mueller — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:08:01 +0000

The last time I needed a desktop system, I had grown tired of building my own and I planned to just buy a pre-built machine. Things didn’t work out that way. I ended up selling a Dell Axim x30 to a friend for $250, then going to a computer show with my father-in-law and buying the parts to slap together my own system. I’ve built my own desktops since 1996 when I first started getting into this crazy hobby/way of life/career.

By: James

James — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:09:26 +0000

Build your own is still the way to go. Known premium components make for superior performance that is still significantly cheaper than purchased systems.

Only drawback is to get the best prices usually requires rebates for components. I recently built my game machine and have three rebates outstanding.

Lastly, for high performance graphics building your own is almost mandatory. The 8800 GT graphics card requires at least 20A on the 12V rail(s) and most purchased systems don’t have beefy enough PSUs for it.

By: ctc

ctc — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:49:26 +0000

@Mike: When the time to build a new PC approaches, I compare the latest motherboard chipsets from Intel, AMD, and nVidia using their websites. Then I default to newegg.com to shop for a motherboard. I use newegg’s search to show me only motherboards of the chipsets I like. Once you have your motherboard, just use its manual to choose other compatible parts.

That’s a simplified explanation of my shopping strategy. By choosing a motherboard that has everything you need, you’ll get a great system at a low price.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:15:13 +0000

I do both, but any billable work I do is usually isolated to an iMac. My cobbled system is really just a storage hub. And like Roberto: it’s come down to occasionally adding a bit of RAM or a brick of hard drive space, when needed… or when it’s astoundingly cheap.

By: Roberto

Roberto — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:22:55 +0000

I still build my own. Usually every two years or so I put together a system that’s one step behind the cutting edge. That gives me a very reliable, quite capable system for a very reasonable price. Best of all, there is none of that c$%/ that big manufacturers install in their computers.

After that all I have to do is perhaps buy a bigger hard drive or add some memory, as needed.

@Mike: You are right, unless you keep yourself constantly informed through industry magazines and websites on what the state of technology is and how it’s moving getting up to speed is a daunting task; and if it’s not part of your normal activities it may not be effective to spend all that time.

By: Tyson

Tyson — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:11:16 +0000

I built my latest computer, but I probably won’t do it again. I do believe I saved money and got a good machine, but the difference is definitely marginal. Plus, I had a copy of windows already, which makes a big difference.

By: Marc

Marc — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:01:00 +0000

I’ve started customizing my hardware in a way that makes social sense to me. The first vendors I look at are Zareason and System76, followed by Dell. I’d rather buy from a place like Zareason because of that little gift-wrapped screwdriver they send with every purchase. Since I don’t have time to build hardware, it’s the next-best thing.

Never been a better time to be a freedom-lovin’ open source studio.

By: Mike Gunderloy

Mike Gunderloy — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:59:18 +0000

Thinking a bit more on this – for me, what drives up the cost of building my own is the sheer time it would take to get back up to speed on which are the good/fast/reliable components and how best to match them. Life was simpler in the pre-Windows era…for those of you still building your own, what do you rely on for information? How do you get from here to there efficiently?

By: Farfield

Farfield — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:51:56 +0000

I never bought a PC, but I’m very happy that I can buy a Mac fully configured and with great components. I’m on my sixth mac now and I never bought one wishing it had some better specs.
I like it because I don’t have to go through the trouble to find out which components work best together, it’s preconfigured with high quality components and it never fails me because of this!

By: ctc

ctc — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:37:56 +0000

I build my own. When you buy a pre-built machine, you’re buying hardware, software, and support. I prefer to be my own tech support, and I use open source software, so all I really need is the hardware. Also, if I need to troubleshoot something, I like knowing exactly what’s in my machine. Furthermore, most individual components have excellent warranties – often lifetime. Those warranty periods disappear when you buy from an OEM.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:22:20 +0000

I’m still under the impression that you CAN build a powerful PC on your own cheaper than the equivalent on a store shelf. Hardware prices are dropping at about the same rate as retail packages are. We build all our own desktops and servers, but we let Apple take care of the laptops.