Samantha
01-07-2001, 12:48 PM
I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new PC for home this week. I ordered from Monarch Computers in Georgia, which I found on the AMD list of system assemblers. I checked them out at both the resellerratings.com and the Better Business Bureau. The prices are not the cheapest around, but they are competitive and the company looks solid. (The last three companies from which I purchases my home computers went out of business before warranties were even up. I'm hoping it's not a curse.)
What I like most about this outfit is that they let you customize literally every component of the PC from their very extensive list of parts, so I was able to get exactly what I wanted. My only disappointment was that I wanted a Matrox G400, but waited too long and Matrox has since discontinued the line in favor of the lesser G450 (bad move, Matrox!). Nevertheless, I opted for the G450, since I'm addicted to Matrox's superior text display. As you can probably tell from the configuration, I'm not a gamer or audiophile.
When I called the 800 number to get some additional information on component options, I reached a representative easily and he answered my questions fine (they were easy ones). One odd thing, though, is that the company does not take credit card information over the phone. You can place your order over the phone, but then have to use their Web site to enter your credit card information. If you don't wish to enter credit card information on the Web, you're only choice is to send the company a money order. They won't take a personal check.
Time to ship a system is supposed to be 10-14 days. I'm not in any particular hurry, but will track to see how they do. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
Here's the configuration:
Enlight 7237 Mid ATX w/ 350 Watt
Second Case Fan
ABIT KT7 Motherboard
Athlon Thunderbird 1000 MHz
Tai-Sol CGK742092 CPU Cooling Fan
256 MB PC 133 CAS-2
Matrox Millennium 32 Meg G450 DDR Dual
IBM Deskstar 45 gig 7200
Plextor 12x10x32 CDRW IDE
1.44MB 3.5 inch Floppy Drive
Creative SoundBlaster Live Value PCI
Altec Lansing ACS21 Stereo Speakers
US Robotics 2977 56k v.90 PCI Modem
D-Link WOL 10/100 PCI
Microsoft Internet Keyboard PS/2
Microsoft Intelli PS/2 Mouse
Windows 98 Version 2
Total: $1,621.05
Including $40 for assembly and $64.95 for FedEx 2-4 day shipping
Not including a monitor
------------------
S~~
What I like most about this outfit is that they let you customize literally every component of the PC from their very extensive list of parts, so I was able to get exactly what I wanted. My only disappointment was that I wanted a Matrox G400, but waited too long and Matrox has since discontinued the line in favor of the lesser G450 (bad move, Matrox!). Nevertheless, I opted for the G450, since I'm addicted to Matrox's superior text display. As you can probably tell from the configuration, I'm not a gamer or audiophile.
When I called the 800 number to get some additional information on component options, I reached a representative easily and he answered my questions fine (they were easy ones). One odd thing, though, is that the company does not take credit card information over the phone. You can place your order over the phone, but then have to use their Web site to enter your credit card information. If you don't wish to enter credit card information on the Web, you're only choice is to send the company a money order. They won't take a personal check.
Time to ship a system is supposed to be 10-14 days. I'm not in any particular hurry, but will track to see how they do. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
Here's the configuration:
Enlight 7237 Mid ATX w/ 350 Watt
Second Case Fan
ABIT KT7 Motherboard
Athlon Thunderbird 1000 MHz
Tai-Sol CGK742092 CPU Cooling Fan
256 MB PC 133 CAS-2
Matrox Millennium 32 Meg G450 DDR Dual
IBM Deskstar 45 gig 7200
Plextor 12x10x32 CDRW IDE
1.44MB 3.5 inch Floppy Drive
Creative SoundBlaster Live Value PCI
Altec Lansing ACS21 Stereo Speakers
US Robotics 2977 56k v.90 PCI Modem
D-Link WOL 10/100 PCI
Microsoft Internet Keyboard PS/2
Microsoft Intelli PS/2 Mouse
Windows 98 Version 2
Total: $1,621.05
Including $40 for assembly and $64.95 for FedEx 2-4 day shipping
Not including a monitor
------------------
S~~