Custom build or buy a Dell/HP?

E

Edgar

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Jul 24, 2005
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Need a new computer for a friends company. They will do no gaming on it at all. Just internet browsing, quickbooks and excel spreadsheets.

Computer needs to be fast. I will also be upgrading the RAM.

What would be better. A custom built computer or buying a prebuilt since no gaming will be done?

Any input appreciated!
 
These days prebuilt are hard to beat in terms of price, and if something is wrong you get support/warranty. No need to deal with DOA parts, compatibility etc. I always build my own machines but every single time I ask myself why I bother anymore as I always run into DOA parts and other issues and it ends up costing a lot of time and money.

If he just wants a computer that works and does not care about upgradability, prebulit is probably the way to go.
 
Prebuilt no question. Unless you already have a bunch of spare parts on hand, for that kind of use you're talking about and especially for a business, prebuilt is the way to go.
 
As they said, prebuild prices are almost unbeatable, especially when they bundle windows. Everything is guaranteed to work together so I would go that route, avoid any hassle.
 
I still build my own, I choose the parts, and with some thinking, you end up getting alot of bang for buck as YOU choose the parts and brands that will be used. If he does not need high end, then go to walmart or best buy, they actually have some decent lower cost builds.

As far as DOA, parts are parts, dell/hp and them are not going to test every unit through and throughout to ensure a near perfect chance of non failure, they are electronics and moving parts etc, anything can bum out.

You still get a warranty on parts used, if you get quality parts in the build, the likely hood of it being a bum unit is low anyways.

That and alot of prebuilt units tend to use generic or knock off parts, locked motherboards, limited ability to up ram, swap to better power supplies if one burns out etc. There is many reasons to build your own.

Prices, are not that much if at all better either, its the conveniance that you dont have to put it all together, they do it for you, and if its a bad unit, you still have to send it in anyways, sometimes can take a few weeks if you are lucky, both have benefits and flaws, up to you to decide, I build my own for a reason.
 
I have to second the recommendations to go prebuilt. There's no reason not to and if you buy from the business side of Dell you get excellent support.
 
For your purposes, prebuilt. Can't beat the buying power of the big manufacturers. I would spend the first hour with the machine uninstalling all the trial/bloatware that comes loaded on these machines, or fresh-install the OS without all the junk. That's the down side to prebuilt. Trials, toolbars, etc.
 
Count me as another vote for a Dell prebuilt. Say what you want to about the company's past behavior, but Dell still treats its business customers well.

As an aside, define "fast" for us. Any desktop built within the last couple of years with a 3.0GHz or faster dual-core processor and 8GB of RAM would be "fast" enough for Quickbooks and Excel. If you really want fast, you need to go with one of the Sandy/Ivy Bridge dual-cores and an SSD. Then again, I don't know if they are available options in a prebuilt.
 
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