Argh! Too expensive.

[jjoel]

Well, I just went to newegg.com and looked to see what kinda prices i could get on the computer i'm wanting. This is the computer with shipping costs... etc....

To be brief... Atx 300 watt/p4 1.6 gig/ 256 pc2100/ 40 gig @ 7200/ Cdrw/lan/56k/ subwoof/17" flat screen...

ENLIGHT MEDIUM ATX TOWER CASE
$44
Sony 24x10x40 Cdrw
$88
ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES CPU COOLER
$18
SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD DRIVE - OEM
$9
WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 40GB 7200RPM MODEL # WD400BB - OEM
$44
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM - OEM
$70
SAMSUNG DynaFlat 755DF 17" (WHITE) CRT MONITOR - RETAIL
$182
Asus SiS 645 Chipset ATX Motherboard Model P4S333-OEM
$100
Logitech S48 Wheel Mouse - PS/2
$6
D-Link 10/100 Mb PCI Ethernet
$10
Intel Pentium 4 1.6A GHz 512K Socket 478 Processor 400MHz Processor Bus
$135
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
$88
CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 - OEM
$32
Logitech Z-340 3 Piece Speaker System
$36
ASUS V7100 PRO NO TV-OUT PURE GEFORCE2 MX400 64MB AGP
$73

Total: $968
Shipping to Missouri: $163.12
Grand Total: $1,132.12

My idea was to go UNDER that price... like maybe get it for $800 or so. Any ideas?? Were any of these products kinda on the expensive side? Anywayz. My dad's starting to like the idea of the dell computer more and more since this is kinda is over what we're looking at. HELP

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

[YODA74]

Well until you get a job of your own where you could buy what you want Looks like your getting a Dell Dude. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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YODA74@windows-sucks.com

[jjoel]

dell basically is the exact same computer except with 20 gigs less and 128 mb ram less.. and it comes with the warrenty.. so dell probably saves money.... i thought it would be cheaper building myself.... hmmm oh well

[YODA74]

Ahh you get more of an appreciation building it your self.And you learn to deal with what problems that may arise,As far as being cheaper "Not" But if you are experianced at building or your dad trusts your judgement and he wants to help you and be involved "as a Father and son Prodject" I would say building your own would be the best thing.It's kind of like furniture I can Build any piece of furniture that has ever been made,But It will cost me twice as much as a furniture factory becouse of production costs,Retail versus Wholesale.I cannot buy a piece of lumber for the same price as a factory.AS is the same with computers, labor Time,Shipping costs,product costs,Back order problems,If the product is good when you receive it,ETC,ETC.

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YODA74@windows-sucks.com

[kayofcircles]

Actually, prices on the floppy drive and the hard drive seem pretty good to me..we paid almost twice for both those items. Having said that, a puter for someone else..particularly someone "new" to puters..is a different thing than what you're willing to "experiment" with for yourself. I have always been frustrated with my uncle's choice of an HP with ME..he lives too far away for us to help him with all the problems and so he has pretty much stopped using the puter because he gets nervous when he gets error messages..or it won't shut down for the millionth time. Granted, he should have returned the puter to HP until they fixed it, like my son did with his new HP, but that means going with a company that does have good tech support/warranty policies. May be obsolete, but about a year ago, Consumer Reports gave Dell the top rating for mid-range systems and the top spot in tech support (with HP at the bottom of the list for tech support). I looked at Dell's site once..and was impressed with the "at home" stuff...if they've still got that, seems a good choice to me. You may not get as much quality in "parts"..but decent tech support could make up for some of that.

[mjc]

Try running it without the monitor....I bet the shipping drops by a huge amount, monitors are one of things I recomend that people get locally. Usually the difference in price is eaten up by shipping charges...monitors are expensive to ship.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[hiredgoonz]

How set are you on a P4 system? I just checked newegg and you can get a good kt266a board for $65-70 and an Athlon XP 1600-1700+ (1400-1466mhz) which will net you much better performance than a ddr P4 system...and it will save you about $70...combined with mjc's suggestions about the monitor, you should be right where you want...

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When all else fails, read the instructions.

Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo)

Drivers (http://www.driverguide.com)

Google (http://www.google.com)

[jjoel]

i've heard lots of complaints about athlons over heating. so if i did get one u guyz gotta reccomend me "the best" cooler (atleast the best for the price) i'd rather run athlons but i've had problems with AMD'S and overheating...

oh, and that monitor idea sounds good to me.