I recently bought some parts off Newegg.com to upgrade my computer. My question is, when is an upgrade just an upgrade? Is it just installing a new cpu? Is it putting simply putting in 2 extra gigabytes of ram. What?
The problem with upgrading computers is sometimes it turns into a whole new build. And I think that's what I just ran into. I wanted a good upgrade to play Left 4 Dead 2 that comes out today.
My current specs are:
AMD Athlon X2 2.6 Ghz
4 GB DDR2 Corsair ram
Geforce 9800 GTX
500 Watt PSU
Windows 7 64-bit professional
CPU upgrade
Compared to the levels in PC Gamer this is a below entry level system. I was debating on simple upgrades to help push my video card further because I think currently the cpu is bottle-necking it. So my first instinct was to simply upgrade the cpu to a higher X2, Phenom, Phenom X3, or Phenom II X4. I already had my eye on the latter which that cost $175.99. Total so far $175.99
Motherboard upgrade
But before that I had to do some research on my motherboard to see what the cpu list was. Some of the above was listed so that was good but I did some more surfing to find forums with people who owned the same motherboard. Some of the above cpus worked but it involved upgrading the bios for the motherboard to read the cpu. Some people had issues where the higher cpus that the motherboard website clearly said it supported, did not work.
After reading all the issues that people had, I didn't want to play the guessing game so I decided that I would only upgrade the cpu and motherboard. But then the issue of DDR2 ram versus DDR3 ram came into play.
Now it was a quest to search for a motherboard that supported the cpu I wanted and DDR2. In my find the motherboards that supported the Phenom II X4 cpu I wanted and DDR2, were roughly $50. Going this route would save me $100 on 4 GB of the DDR3 ram since I'd be using my DDR2 ram. But then I saw the prices for motherboards supporting my desired cpu and DDR3. They were $$79.99 and up. $30 isn't too bad of a price difference to get DDR3 support. So I opted to get the $80 motherboard supporting my $175.99 cpu. Total so far is $255.98
RAM upgrade
So since DDR2 ram doesn't work in a DDR3 motherboard, guess what? That's right, I had to upgrade the ram. These were $90 to $100 for 4 GB. I opted for the corsair brand as I've never been let down by them. They were $94.99. Total so far in upgrades $350.97.
DVD drive
You must have thought I was done huh? Well I decided to upgrade the DVD drive because it still uses a bulky and fat IDE cable. I figure without bulky cables in the case that should help with lowering the heat. I got an inexpensive Samsung dvd drive for $29.99. Total so far is $380.96.
Surely I must be done. I mean a simple idea of upgrading from a cpu that is $175.99 has now turned into an almost $400 upgrade. I wish the story ends there folks but sadly it does not.
PSU Upgrade
I get all the parts, the cpu, mobo, ram and dvd drive home, uninstall the old stuff, install the new parts, hit the button and....nothing. No power, somethings not right. I recheck all the power cables from the psu to the motherboard, and still nothing. So my first instinct is to assume the motherboard arrived DOA. But then I see a new power input on the motherboard I've never seen before and my current power supply unit doesn't have that. Ah, I guess I need a new psu.
But to cover all my bases though, I put in a request to have the cpu and motherboard replaced and I ordered a psu that I saw other customers order with the new motherboard. The psu cost $109.99. Total in upgrades is $490.95.
What the crap happened? I went from wanting just a newer CPU to $490.95 in upgrades. I hate that but love it at the same time. Be careful, a simple upgrade can turn into a whole new computer. This is something that game consoles have over the PC. Game consoles are usually put out every 5-6 years for $300-$500. Whereas PC gamers may get the itch to upgrade their PC every year or every other. But at the same time that's what's so fun about PC's. Upgrading them to suit your needs, to play a game at higher settings to run smoother or just to keep current with the technology. Even though my $175.99 turned into a price tag to the tune of almost $500. I'm happy and will know that this upgrade will suffice for at least three years.
So what do you consider an upgrade? Do you run into problems like I did and one upgrade turns into upgrading something else?
Coming soon: My step by step guide to building a computer.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Buy "X" get one free
You've all seen it in the store. Buy 3 Pillsbury rolls and get one free, buy 2 sodas get one free, etc. This isn't always a good deal. Sometimes things need research before just jumping in and buying. And I wouldn't learned this lesson if it weren't for Wal-mart.
I love the Sobe Water. They have all kinds of different flavors, it's light and not too sweet. I picked up a couple at Wal-mart because they were $1 each. Not to shabby. I went to Safe-way and they were having a "buy 3 get one free" deal. Surely this is the better deal. Not at all. One at Safe-way costs $1.54. So you're getting four for $4.62. That's 62 cents more than Wal-mart. So short and simple don't be deceived by these kinds of deals. If worse comes to worse and you needed 3 of whatever anyway, you may as well take the fourth one.
I love the Sobe Water. They have all kinds of different flavors, it's light and not too sweet. I picked up a couple at Wal-mart because they were $1 each. Not to shabby. I went to Safe-way and they were having a "buy 3 get one free" deal. Surely this is the better deal. Not at all. One at Safe-way costs $1.54. So you're getting four for $4.62. That's 62 cents more than Wal-mart. So short and simple don't be deceived by these kinds of deals. If worse comes to worse and you needed 3 of whatever anyway, you may as well take the fourth one.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Comcast versus Verizon
Who's the lesser of the two evils? Be careful, they will both tell you about their triple play features, phone, internet and tv for $100 a month for a year. When the year is up, who knows what the price will be then. You can always call them after that year and say you're going to their competitor. It works.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Black Friday is a' coming
Black Friday. A time to get excited about all the great deals stores will be rolling out. Walmart, Best Buy, Sears, Target, the list goes on. I've never been one to wake up at three or four in the morning and wait outside for those deals. Mainly, I like my sleep and because usually I was on the other end. When I worked at Circuit City I didn't have any arms after all those transactions.
This year I think I'm going to do my Black Friday deals on line. There are four reasons why I'm doing my Black Friday shopping this way:
1. I don't have to wake up super early.
2. I don't have to deal with jerk people.
3. The possibility of an item being out of stock and me not knowing that is slim.
4. I don't have to be out in the cold (very important).
So there you have it. Does anyone have websites they visit where the Black Friday deals are unbelievable?
This year I think I'm going to do my Black Friday deals on line. There are four reasons why I'm doing my Black Friday shopping this way:
1. I don't have to wake up super early.
2. I don't have to deal with jerk people.
3. The possibility of an item being out of stock and me not knowing that is slim.
4. I don't have to be out in the cold (very important).
So there you have it. Does anyone have websites they visit where the Black Friday deals are unbelievable?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Custom vs Store Built Computer: The Art of Shopping for a New Computer
Before I knew how to build computers, it was instinct to go to the local Circuit City or Best Buy and purchase one, thinking I had a good deal. Ignorance is bliss because I didn't know what I was missing with custom builds.
I know when someone needs a new computer, a majority think, "I'll get one from Dell" or "I'm going to buy a computer from 'fill in the blank'" store. In doing some research, I'm going to compare the pros and cons of building a computer yourself versus buying one from the store and extrapolate the 3 basic guidelines for both purchases. Price, product and process; the 3 P's can be used for all purchases not just computers. Please note that I am pricing a mid/medium gaming computers, but we can take the same percentage difference between the compared and apply the research to other types of computers, i.e. if for example it's 25% cheaper to buy a Dell over building one, you can take that 25% as a reference and use it to see the cost differential between two office computers, or two high gaming machines. Please note also, computer parts and manufacturers have myriad of variations for their hardware so I've done my best to look at comparable computers. Here we go, and remember the 3 P's.
PRICE
Let's be honest, the bottom dollar figure is a major factor in purchases before we even do any comparing or research.
I researched four computers and here are the prices for each of them:
DELL Alienware Aurora - $1,994.00
BESTBUY HP Pavilion Elite - $1,671.96
IBUYPOWER.COM Gamer Paladin F760 - $1,555.00
NEWEGG Custom build - $1,550.19
$443.81 is the highest differential between the custom build and the Dell. $121 is the price difference between the custom build and the Best buy. It's safe to say that the price between a custom build and store bought computer ranges from $120 - $444. The average would be a savings of $282 for going the route of custom build. If you want to save money, go with a custom build. If you want to save physical time building the computer, go with the other three. Just remember you will pay with either your time or with money.
It's easy to look at the Dell and think it is the most expensive so it has the most bells and whistles or look at the Ibuypower.com computer and think it doesn't offer much. Prices can be deceiving, let's take a further look via the second P which is:
PRODUCT
I did my best to search for computers that were comparable in parts and power. Here's a breakdown for each computer and their parts. All four computers are priced with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
The things in blue are the major differences between each.
The things in italics are the parts that are free with the above item.
DELL
Intel® CoreTM i7 920 2.66GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 1.8GB
9GB 1067Mhz DDR3
1 TB Hard drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Dell ST2410 Full High Definition Monitor
1505 PCIe WLAN wireless card
BESTBUY
Intel® Core™ i7 – 2.66 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 1.8GB
9GB 1067Mhz DDR3
1 TB Hard drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Dell S2409W Full High Definition Monitor
Built-in wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n)
HP keyboard and mouse
Digital Media Card Reader15 in 1
1 year limited parts and labor warranty
IBUYPOWER.COM
Intel® CoreTM i7 920 2.66GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 – 896MB
6GB DDR3-1333
1 TB Hard Drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Widescreen TFT LCD Monitor
iBUYPOWER 2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Netgear WG311 802.11g 54Mbps PCI Adapter
Standard Warranty Service - Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
NEWEGG Custom Build
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 1.8GB
Intel X58 Micro ATX motherboard
8GB CORSAIR XMS3 RAM
1 TB Hard drive
2 Sata Cables (one for dvd burner and one for hard drive)
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM
Free Kingston Micro 4GB SD card w/ purchase, ends 10/31
Gateway Monitor FHD2401 Black 24"
Wireless network card
Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse
Vagueness
Yet there is some vagueness among certain things, i.e. the monitor for the IBUYPOWER computer simply says 24" widescreen TFT LCD. A customer has no idea what the specs on that are. At least with the Dell monitor there's a model number to at least do some research on it for reviews, etc. The media card reader from Newegg boasts about a 52 in 1 reader. Let's be serious, there's only a few common types of media cards, SD, compact flash, memory stick, and xD. I know there may be more common ones but 52? Let's not puff up the item more than need be.
Warranties scare me. If you look up vagueness in the dictionary, it'll have warranty as an antonym. You know as well as I know that sometimes if your part craps out and you call customer service, they find all these ways around not fixing your item. And if you are eligible to have the item fixed, you have to pay for shipping. Especially the term "Lifetime" warranty. That does not mean the rest of your life. That means for the rest of the products life. If an item is discontinued or superseded by its upgrade, then you're out of luck. And seeing as computer technology changes quicker than you can say "Microsoft wants how much for that program?!" those lifetime warranties more often than not, mean nothing.
Let's move on to the third P:
PROCESS
Process will include the selection time, check out, the slated delivery date, and for the custom build the process of building it to a functioning PC.
By far, the quickest and easiest computer to purchase would be the BEST BUY computer. There was no customization process, picking which CPU, if you wanted a second hard drive, or anything like that. The computer was already pre-built ready to be shipped as soon as you hit the finalize and checkout button.
This computer would be for someone who needs one asap without having to do too much research but a quick run down over the specs.
Check out: Tax is the question The customization process was a breeze but upon checking out there was some confusion. Confusion, by the way, is a good marketing technique. If you can confuse the customer enough where they don't ask any questions and continue with the process, you will make money. I believe that's what Dell and Ibuypower intentionally do.
I saw a line for shipping for Dell and Ibuypower, which calculated from your zip code and which service. But the tax never calculated, the only way it probably would have, was if i signed up for an account. Whether or not you'd be taxed, as a customer you'd pay it. You wouldn't stop the process of buying your perfectly customized computer now. MD tax is .06% so that would be $127 tax on the Dell $1994 and $93 on the Ibuypower's price of $1,555. Best Buy did however, have the tax calculated showing $97. Newegg custom build did not charge tax, which on a $1,500 system, saves you $90.
As my fellow blogger would say, "You may need a cup of coffee in order to understand the next readings."
Dell and Ibuypower give the customer a feeling of control as you go from screen to screen picking the power of the cpu, to how much ram to a second monitor and even what kind of anti-virus or Microsoft office software you wanted. Dell even had an option to install World of Warcraft for you if you play the game. You might be thinking, "Big deal." Well I know from installing the game a few times over the past five years that it is a time consuming process. You have the regular game, two expansions, and updates. I would say that whole process is about two hours. But even as both Dell and Ibuypower give you power to pick which pieces to for your computer and make it special, there is something still lacking that is only allayed by a custom build.
With a custom build you have true power over what you want in your computer. Dell and Ibuypower may give you choices but they are only limited to five to ten options for each item. What if I don't want an Intel CPU, what if I wanted an AMD CPU? What if I want a case that doesn't have a side window? What if I want a bigger power supply and more fans? The possibilities are endless with a custom build.
The shipping process is confusing for Dell and Ibuypower. Dell for its standard shipping says 3-5 business days. Great! Well in reading the fine print, it could take up to 15 days to get the computer. I put the computer in the cart online and it said, "Delivery date estimated to be 11-17-09." Hmmm. If I submit the order on 10-27-09, that means it'll be 22 calendar days before I get my order. Take a look at the order stages by Dell.
Let's break it down even further, from 10-27-09 to 11-17-09 is 22 calendar days. 11-17-09 minus 5 business days would be 11-10-09. So if you ordered one on 10-27-09, it wouldn't ship at least until 11-10-09, which is 15 calendar days. They don't ship on weekends. So if you spend the $109 for next day shipping, you still wouldn't get it for at least 16 calendar days. That's two weeks and two days. Personally, I'd want something quicker than that.
I'd assume that Ibuypower would be the same way since they have to put it all together. Best Buy would probably get the computer out faster since it's already built.
The Newegg custom built computer I know personally ships the parts within three business days. That's fast! They have an option to add a $2.99 rush option, but don't fall for that, just make sure you order before noon and it will be packaged and ready to be shipped out that day.
From personal experience of building my last five computers, it's typically a 3-5 hour process once parts are received to put it all the together, installing the OS, installing updates and installing your games. Sometimes you do get a piece that's DOA which slows the process but if you ship out the item the next day they tend to get it back to you within 5 business days. You do however, pay to ship it back to them. I've only had two pieces arrive messed up and one Newegg rep gave me a $10 credit for a future purchase. I'll take it.
The very fact that you're building your computer, you know what's in it, you don't have to deal with proprietary parts and voiding warranties if you pull the case cover off. If you were smart enough to build a functioning computer, then you're smart enough to fix it if something happens. Worse comes to worse, you just buy the piece that craps out. Another plus for custom build computers is, if you want to build another computer you can certainly keep the one you have and build another one. But if you want to take parts from an older custom computer and put them into a newer custom computer, that is feasible as well. I've done this every time, I've used the same hard drive in 3 different computer, same floppy, same video card, etc.
The point is, if you're one to buy computers pre-built then you're probably not the type to take old parts out of the older model and put them in the newer one. But some computer parts are perfectly usable for years. For all you green people out there, this is good for the environment as well.
I personally enjoy building a computer because you learn so much. You may let Dell build you a computer but you are definitely paying for the labor. There's still so much to learn about computers, what better way than dig deep and build one yourself? Check out this guide by Maximum PC: Maximum PC's how to guide to building a PC The principles for building a computer are all the same, it's just the parts that will differ.
So there you have it, the price, product and process difference between buying a computer versus custom building.
I know when someone needs a new computer, a majority think, "I'll get one from Dell" or "I'm going to buy a computer from 'fill in the blank'" store. In doing some research, I'm going to compare the pros and cons of building a computer yourself versus buying one from the store and extrapolate the 3 basic guidelines for both purchases. Price, product and process; the 3 P's can be used for all purchases not just computers. Please note that I am pricing a mid/medium gaming computers, but we can take the same percentage difference between the compared and apply the research to other types of computers, i.e. if for example it's 25% cheaper to buy a Dell over building one, you can take that 25% as a reference and use it to see the cost differential between two office computers, or two high gaming machines. Please note also, computer parts and manufacturers have myriad of variations for their hardware so I've done my best to look at comparable computers. Here we go, and remember the 3 P's.
PRICE
Let's be honest, the bottom dollar figure is a major factor in purchases before we even do any comparing or research.
I researched four computers and here are the prices for each of them:
DELL Alienware Aurora - $1,994.00
BESTBUY HP Pavilion Elite - $1,671.96
IBUYPOWER.COM Gamer Paladin F760 - $1,555.00
NEWEGG Custom build - $1,550.19
$443.81 is the highest differential between the custom build and the Dell. $121 is the price difference between the custom build and the Best buy. It's safe to say that the price between a custom build and store bought computer ranges from $120 - $444. The average would be a savings of $282 for going the route of custom build. If you want to save money, go with a custom build. If you want to save physical time building the computer, go with the other three. Just remember you will pay with either your time or with money.
It's easy to look at the Dell and think it is the most expensive so it has the most bells and whistles or look at the Ibuypower.com computer and think it doesn't offer much. Prices can be deceiving, let's take a further look via the second P which is:
PRODUCT
I did my best to search for computers that were comparable in parts and power. Here's a breakdown for each computer and their parts. All four computers are priced with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
The things in blue are the major differences between each.
The things in italics are the parts that are free with the above item.
DELL
Intel® CoreTM i7 920 2.66GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 1.8GB
9GB 1067Mhz DDR3
1 TB Hard drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Dell ST2410 Full High Definition Monitor
1505 PCIe WLAN wireless card
Preinstall World of Warcraft
Alienware grey and aqua colored case
Alienware Avatar
AlienwareWallpaper
Alienware Keyboard and mouse1 year limited hardware warranty
BESTBUY
Intel® Core™ i7 – 2.66 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 1.8GB
9GB 1067Mhz DDR3
1 TB Hard drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Dell S2409W Full High Definition Monitor
Built-in wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n)
HP keyboard and mouse
Digital Media Card Reader15 in 1
1 year limited parts and labor warranty
IBUYPOWER.COM
Intel® CoreTM i7 920 2.66GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 – 896MB
6GB DDR3-1333
1 TB Hard Drive
DVD/CD Burner 24X
24" Widescreen TFT LCD Monitor
iBUYPOWER 2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Netgear WG311 802.11g 54Mbps PCI Adapter
Standard Warranty Service - Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support
NEWEGG Custom Build
Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 1.8GB
Intel X58 Micro ATX motherboard
8GB CORSAIR XMS3 RAM
1 TB Hard drive
2 Sata Cables (one for dvd burner and one for hard drive)
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM
Free Kingston Micro 4GB SD card w/ purchase, ends 10/31
Gateway Monitor FHD2401 Black 24"
Wireless network card
Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse
Digital Media Card Reader 52 in 1
Approx 1 year warranty on parts
Differences
All in all the computer parts are very similar. The Dell and Best Buy computers have 9GB of Ram whereas the Ibuypower has 6GB and the custom build has 8GB, not enough to tell any naked eye difference. The Dell did not come with a media card reader as the other three did. The Dell Alienware seems to be the all out brand name computer. People know Dell, and being popular, they are able to charge more than Best Buy and Ibuypower. With the Dell Alienware you get a cool Alienware Avatar icon on the case of your computer and a vivid Alienware desktop wallpaper. They all gave free mice and keyboards. Ibuypower was the only one to give a free 2.1 speaker system.Vagueness
Yet there is some vagueness among certain things, i.e. the monitor for the IBUYPOWER computer simply says 24" widescreen TFT LCD. A customer has no idea what the specs on that are. At least with the Dell monitor there's a model number to at least do some research on it for reviews, etc. The media card reader from Newegg boasts about a 52 in 1 reader. Let's be serious, there's only a few common types of media cards, SD, compact flash, memory stick, and xD. I know there may be more common ones but 52? Let's not puff up the item more than need be.
Warranties scare me. If you look up vagueness in the dictionary, it'll have warranty as an antonym. You know as well as I know that sometimes if your part craps out and you call customer service, they find all these ways around not fixing your item. And if you are eligible to have the item fixed, you have to pay for shipping. Especially the term "Lifetime" warranty. That does not mean the rest of your life. That means for the rest of the products life. If an item is discontinued or superseded by its upgrade, then you're out of luck. And seeing as computer technology changes quicker than you can say "Microsoft wants how much for that program?!" those lifetime warranties more often than not, mean nothing.
Let's move on to the third P:
PROCESS
Process will include the selection time, check out, the slated delivery date, and for the custom build the process of building it to a functioning PC.
By far, the quickest and easiest computer to purchase would be the BEST BUY computer. There was no customization process, picking which CPU, if you wanted a second hard drive, or anything like that. The computer was already pre-built ready to be shipped as soon as you hit the finalize and checkout button.
This computer would be for someone who needs one asap without having to do too much research but a quick run down over the specs.
Check out: Tax is the question The customization process was a breeze but upon checking out there was some confusion. Confusion, by the way, is a good marketing technique. If you can confuse the customer enough where they don't ask any questions and continue with the process, you will make money. I believe that's what Dell and Ibuypower intentionally do.
I saw a line for shipping for Dell and Ibuypower, which calculated from your zip code and which service. But the tax never calculated, the only way it probably would have, was if i signed up for an account. Whether or not you'd be taxed, as a customer you'd pay it. You wouldn't stop the process of buying your perfectly customized computer now. MD tax is .06% so that would be $127 tax on the Dell $1994 and $93 on the Ibuypower's price of $1,555. Best Buy did however, have the tax calculated showing $97. Newegg custom build did not charge tax, which on a $1,500 system, saves you $90.
As my fellow blogger would say, "You may need a cup of coffee in order to understand the next readings."
(Calculations to come)
Dell and Ibuypower give the customer a feeling of control as you go from screen to screen picking the power of the cpu, to how much ram to a second monitor and even what kind of anti-virus or Microsoft office software you wanted. Dell even had an option to install World of Warcraft for you if you play the game. You might be thinking, "Big deal." Well I know from installing the game a few times over the past five years that it is a time consuming process. You have the regular game, two expansions, and updates. I would say that whole process is about two hours. But even as both Dell and Ibuypower give you power to pick which pieces to for your computer and make it special, there is something still lacking that is only allayed by a custom build.
With a custom build you have true power over what you want in your computer. Dell and Ibuypower may give you choices but they are only limited to five to ten options for each item. What if I don't want an Intel CPU, what if I wanted an AMD CPU? What if I want a case that doesn't have a side window? What if I want a bigger power supply and more fans? The possibilities are endless with a custom build.
The shipping process is confusing for Dell and Ibuypower. Dell for its standard shipping says 3-5 business days. Great! Well in reading the fine print, it could take up to 15 days to get the computer. I put the computer in the cart online and it said, "Delivery date estimated to be 11-17-09." Hmmm. If I submit the order on 10-27-09, that means it'll be 22 calendar days before I get my order. Take a look at the order stages by Dell.
Let's break it down even further, from 10-27-09 to 11-17-09 is 22 calendar days. 11-17-09 minus 5 business days would be 11-10-09. So if you ordered one on 10-27-09, it wouldn't ship at least until 11-10-09, which is 15 calendar days. They don't ship on weekends. So if you spend the $109 for next day shipping, you still wouldn't get it for at least 16 calendar days. That's two weeks and two days. Personally, I'd want something quicker than that.
I'd assume that Ibuypower would be the same way since they have to put it all together. Best Buy would probably get the computer out faster since it's already built.
The Newegg custom built computer I know personally ships the parts within three business days. That's fast! They have an option to add a $2.99 rush option, but don't fall for that, just make sure you order before noon and it will be packaged and ready to be shipped out that day.
From personal experience of building my last five computers, it's typically a 3-5 hour process once parts are received to put it all the together, installing the OS, installing updates and installing your games. Sometimes you do get a piece that's DOA which slows the process but if you ship out the item the next day they tend to get it back to you within 5 business days. You do however, pay to ship it back to them. I've only had two pieces arrive messed up and one Newegg rep gave me a $10 credit for a future purchase. I'll take it.
The very fact that you're building your computer, you know what's in it, you don't have to deal with proprietary parts and voiding warranties if you pull the case cover off. If you were smart enough to build a functioning computer, then you're smart enough to fix it if something happens. Worse comes to worse, you just buy the piece that craps out. Another plus for custom build computers is, if you want to build another computer you can certainly keep the one you have and build another one. But if you want to take parts from an older custom computer and put them into a newer custom computer, that is feasible as well. I've done this every time, I've used the same hard drive in 3 different computer, same floppy, same video card, etc.
The point is, if you're one to buy computers pre-built then you're probably not the type to take old parts out of the older model and put them in the newer one. But some computer parts are perfectly usable for years. For all you green people out there, this is good for the environment as well.
I personally enjoy building a computer because you learn so much. You may let Dell build you a computer but you are definitely paying for the labor. There's still so much to learn about computers, what better way than dig deep and build one yourself? Check out this guide by Maximum PC: Maximum PC's how to guide to building a PC The principles for building a computer are all the same, it's just the parts that will differ.
So there you have it, the price, product and process difference between buying a computer versus custom building.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Family Portraits: For Expecting or New Parents, What to Expect
The question: Would it be more cost effective to take family portraits and purchase the prints from the portrait studio? Or, would it be better to take family portraits, and purchase the image rights on a CD, allowing you to print your own pictures?
My wife and I were blessed to have our first child in April this year. When our son was almost four months, we scheduled to have family portraits taken at a studio, in one of the larger retail merchandise stores, because we had received a coupon for 40% off.
My wife and I were blessed to have our first child in April this year. When our son was almost four months, we scheduled to have family portraits taken at a studio, in one of the larger retail merchandise stores, because we had received a coupon for 40% off.
Before we arrived, we had decided on a picture package which would include 14 portrait sheets. The cost of this package was $169.99, so I was thinking we would spend around $100, after the 40% discount was applied.
We arrived to the studio, not really knowing what to expect, other than to wear similar colors. We took our photos, and then the photographer told us she would upload the photos and show them to us, so we could make decisions on what photos we liked.
I left at one point to change our son's diaper, while my wife and the photographer were looking through the pictures. I came back from the diaper changing and they were finishing going through the photos.
The photographer showed me the selected choices. She did so by flipping through the photos saying things like, "You're getting 2-5x7s, 1-8x10, 4-3.5x5s, 8 wallets..." and she was saying it fast, like she was auctioneer almost, while flipping through the photos on the computer just as fast it seemed. I just nodded my head and said something like, "Sounds great!"
The photographer ended by saying how we could have all our photos on a CD, and we would have the copyrights to print whatever we liked, even putting the pictures on the internet to share friends and family. Our total had crossed a certain price range, so the Image CD, "Would only cost us $29.99."
After one dirty diaper changing and about twenty minutes later, we were checking out for a grand total of $253.86($271.00 after tax). $253.86 was with a 40% discount, the regular price would have been $384.84! We had purchased the initial photo package we had agreed upon, the Image CD, and 10 additional photos as well.
"What were the extra $150 worth of charges?", you may be thinking. After deciphering the receipt AND reading all the fine print in the photo pamphlet, I started to see how the price added up.
"What were the extra $150 worth of charges?", you may be thinking. After deciphering the receipt AND reading all the fine print in the photo pamphlet, I started to see how the price added up.
We ended up with 20 photo sheets in all, but were charged for 24 sheets. The photo pamphlet reads, "Multi-Image enhanced portraits...equal two portrait sheets". We purchased 4 photo sheets that were multi-image(example provided below), containing two or more pictures within each photo, so we were charged for 8 sheets, making our total 24. We were 10 photo sheets over the 14 included in the original portrait package, and the cost of the additional 10 portrait sheets was $91.91, with the 40% discount applied.
Also, I didn't consider the sitting fee and the Image CD in my initial price estimate of around $100. The 40% discount did not apply to neither the sitting fee, nor to the Image CD. The sitting fee was $29.97 and the Image CD was $29.99.
(example of a single image photo on the top, and a multi-image photo on the bottom)
Also, I didn't consider the sitting fee and the Image CD in my initial price estimate of around $100. The 40% discount did not apply to neither the sitting fee, nor to the Image CD. The sitting fee was $29.97 and the Image CD was $29.99.
When all the numbers were added up, it was $271.00 after tax.
For the total of $271.00, we received:
22 - 5x7s
4 - 3.5x5s
4 - 8x10
2 - 10x13
1 - 10x20
8 - Wallets
= 41 photos
At this point, you made need a coffee break.
If my wife and I had ordered JUST the Image CD, after shooting the photos, the Image CD would have cost us $99.99 by itself. We would have also paid the $29.97 for the sitting fee.
Our total, without ordering any picture prints, would have been: $129.96 + $8.77(tax) = $138.73.
The difference we would have saved, from $271.00, is $132.27.
Our total, without ordering any picture prints, would have been: $129.96 + $8.77(tax) = $138.73.
The difference we would have saved, from $271.00, is $132.27.
Could my wife and I have recreated the multi-image photos, and if so, could we have ordered 41 photos ourselves, with the same lustre finish, and a 10x20 photo printed on canvas, for less than $132.27 from an online site or in a store?
I've compiled a few of the most popular websites people recommend for printing photographs, and the amount it would cost to print our 41 photos. One website had ALL the sizes we originally purchased, others didn’t. Some websites offered a lustre finish on photos, some didn't. It should be noted with the orders below, it’s assumed we are able to reproduce our own multi-image photos like the studio.
I've compiled a few of the most popular websites people recommend for printing photographs, and the amount it would cost to print our 41 photos. One website had ALL the sizes we originally purchased, others didn’t. Some websites offered a lustre finish on photos, some didn't. It should be noted with the orders below, it’s assumed we are able to reproduce our own multi-image photos like the studio.
MPix.com is only site I've found that has all of the same sizes, lustre finish, and choice of canvas printing for a 10x20, like the portrait studio offered. If we had ordered the EXACT same order from MPix.com, as we had from the studio, our total would have been:
$99.79(pictures) + $5.95(S&H) = $105.74.
Using MPix.com, we would have saved $26.53.
Shutterfly.com was the next site I tried. The first thing I noticed was that Shutterfly.com didn't have the 3.5x5, 10x13, or 10x20 size prints. Also, I didn't see an option for lustre finish on Shutterfly.com. I priced 41 pictures on Shutterfly.com, using picture sizes as close to the missing sizes as possible. Instead of 3.5x5, I used 4x6. Instead of 10x13, I used 11x14. Instead of 10x20, I used the 16x20. For the 41 pictures ordered off Shutterfly.com, the total would have been:
$74.41(pictures) + $12.47(S&H) + $6.73(tax) = $93.61
Shutterfly.com was the next site I tried. The first thing I noticed was that Shutterfly.com didn't have the 3.5x5, 10x13, or 10x20 size prints. Also, I didn't see an option for lustre finish on Shutterfly.com. I priced 41 pictures on Shutterfly.com, using picture sizes as close to the missing sizes as possible. Instead of 3.5x5, I used 4x6. Instead of 10x13, I used 11x14. Instead of 10x20, I used the 16x20. For the 41 pictures ordered off Shutterfly.com, the total would have been:
$74.41(pictures) + $12.47(S&H) + $6.73(tax) = $93.61
Using Shutterfly.com, we would have saved $38.66.*
Snapfish.com is another site I tried. As with Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com doesn't offer the lustre finish and the 3.5x5, 10x13, or 10x20 size prints weren't available either, and I substituted those again: Instead of 3.5x5, I used 4x6. Instead of 10x13, I used 11x14. Instead of 10x20, I used the 16x20. For 41 pictures off Snapfish.com, the total would have been:
$58.09(pictures) + $8.44(S&H) + $5.16(tax) = $71.69.
Using Snapfish.com, we would have saved $60.58.*Snapfish.com is another site I tried. As with Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com doesn't offer the lustre finish and the 3.5x5, 10x13, or 10x20 size prints weren't available either, and I substituted those again: Instead of 3.5x5, I used 4x6. Instead of 10x13, I used 11x14. Instead of 10x20, I used the 16x20. For 41 pictures off Snapfish.com, the total would have been:
$58.09(pictures) + $8.44(S&H) + $5.16(tax) = $71.69.
Costco.com was the last site I tried. Costco is a warehouse club, that requires a yearly membership of $50 to use the store's services. If you are already a member at Costco, ordering prints from Costco.com is the cheapest site I've found for prints. Costco.com, like Snapfish.com and Shutterfly.com, didn't offer all the sizes, but it does have the lustre finish. I again substituted picture sizes: Instead of 3.5x5, I used 4x6. Instead of 10x13, I used 11x14. Instead of 10x20, I used the 16x20.
Assuming you're a member at Costco, for 41 pictures ordered off Costco.com, the total would have been:
$27.81(pictures) + $1.88(tax) = $29.69.
Using Costco.com, we would have saved $102.58.*
*It should be noted, again, that the orders on Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com, and Costco.com didn’t have the same sizes as our order from the portrait studio, only Mpix.com had the same options available. Also, Shutterfly.com and Snapfish.com don't offer the lustre finish, from the choices I saw. We also would have had to create our own multi-image photos, if we wanted the exact same order, which we purchased from the studio.
Perception
Sometimes I've perceived that certain people have it all together, then you find out they don't. Everything on the outside looks well kept, nice house, pretty wife, one girl, one boy and that little puppy dog. Appearances are deceiving.
My boss gave me a really good tip. We're contractors so he said, "You don't want to walk into a government meeting with a suit and tie, hair slicked back looking like you're high roller. You'd give off the impression that you're making money off them, which you don't want to do. You want to go in there with casual clothes, maybe even jeans. But you don't want to go in there too raggedy then they'll look at you like you don't know what you're doing."
Perception can play a big roll in how we interact with society. Even though we shouldn't judge by appearances, that's the way it is.
My boss gave me a really good tip. We're contractors so he said, "You don't want to walk into a government meeting with a suit and tie, hair slicked back looking like you're high roller. You'd give off the impression that you're making money off them, which you don't want to do. You want to go in there with casual clothes, maybe even jeans. But you don't want to go in there too raggedy then they'll look at you like you don't know what you're doing."
Perception can play a big roll in how we interact with society. Even though we shouldn't judge by appearances, that's the way it is.
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