Quote:
Originally Posted by BWinmill
I far prefer building my own desktop. The main reason is servicability since most of the components can be swapped out when they fail. Of course the irony is that desktops fail less often because they are transported less often. The other part of the reason for building my own desktop is because it's fun. Laptop purchases are a chore (in my humble opinion) because it is a matter of finding something that meets my needs at a reasonable price. Desktops building is fun because I get to research the various parts and get exactly what I want.
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I like to build/upgrade/repair. It's an itch I need to scratch from time to time. It's tough for me to build, though, because it costs SO much more than off the shelf. Take the Lenove I just purchased...
Staples Item: 985090
Model: 57311430
Price: $399.99
Let's ignore, case, power supply, optical drive, keyboard, mouse, etc.
8g DDR3 1333MHz: Newegg $34
Genuine Windows 8: Dell $70
Desktop Hard Drive Size 1TB 7200rpm: ErwinComp $57
i5-3330 (boxed): SuperBiiz.Com $184
1155 board with PCIe slot: CostCentral $60
That's $405 and I chose low cost sellers of inexpensive parts. Another $50 for a PSU and a case, $20 for optical drive, $30 for keyboard and mouse. All of a sudden, you are about $500.
But wait! I used staples gift cards to purchase that computer. When I get my discover cash back, I can buy $25 staples gift cards for $20, so my out of pocket ('cause I could have taken cash) for the computer was only $320.
So it would have cost me more than 50% more to build than buy -- and this was *exactly* what I wanted. Plus this single purchase takes me halfway to premier status which entitles me to recycle 10 more carts per month for a total of $240 (ignoring double and triple recycle promotions).
To be honest, I enjoy playing the promotions almost as much as building computers and I look forward to every basket case that comes my way.