Forum Moderators: open
However experience has shown me that these companies use very odd OEM versions of components and it's sometimes hard to find drivers for things like the onboard audio etc..
What do you think?
Anyway, I'd start by uninstalling whatever you don't want and see how the system goes for a while before wiping everything.
why not make your own?
Just the fun of it and knowledge you gain while doing is worth it. Not to mention it is much cheaper.
I asked this very question a few weeks back on Foo.
I have done a lot of research and I don't believe you can build cheaper.
Tom's Hardware just had an article about building a $500 gaming machine.
Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146
Motherboard ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 $69
Memory Corsair Value Select 512 MB (2x 256 MB) $52
VGA eVGA 256-A8-N340-TX Geforce 6600 256 MB $113
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80 GB $57.50
Optical Drive LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM $19.99
Power Supply SeaSonic S12-330 ATX12V 330W $59.00
Total $516.49
Where's the case? ($50)
Where's XP? ($100)
Where's the monitor? ($200)
Tack that on and you're looking at $850+
I have priced out some Dell or Compaq systems for about $700 that will suit my needs and have a 160G drive, Dual Layer burner etc...
Believe me I love the idea of building my own system.
However when it comes to tax time it looks a lot cleaner to have a $700 invoice from Dell than a whole bunch of parts from newegg or mwave.
[webmasterworld.com...]
Toms Hardware assumes that you'll already have stuff lying around from previous computers.
Personally, I'd see what you can uninstall before going wild. It's likely that you'll have to have the case apart to find component numbers, and you'll end up voiding your warrenty. If I were you, I'd get my machine into the cleanest possible state by uninstalling bundled crap, and then take an image of the hard disk.
I would love to wipe the disk and do a clean install of XP
Yes, so would I. But despite the computer coming with Windows XP (allegedly), they give you no installation CD for the software. Absolutely brilliant.
There used to be a standard in computing. You got the installation discs for the software, and a disc with the drivers you need for the hardware. Quite what was wrong with that I'll never know.
But on the issue at hand, I always format and reinstall every pre-installed system. I had a packard bell laptop recently with Norton Internet Security Suite on it... and no uninstaller!
Holy crap. I haven't heard those words in almost 10 years. They're still around?
But what IS necessary IMO is
1. Don't have them send it with XP home, have them put XP Pro on it, or plan on the purchase in #4, you will be thankful you did.
2. ****IMMEDIATELY**** upon first startup, select Start->Settings->Control Panel Add/Remove Programs and UNINSTALL everything that even **HINTS** it may be related to Symantec or Norton Utilities.
3. Visit the Grisoft website and download/install Grisoft AVG personal edition, it's free, it works, it doesn't worm it's way into your system like a jealous stepmother.
4. It's true most manufacturers are sending comp's with no startup CD or if they do it's a stupid a "system restore" which usually puts you right back into whatever mess you started in. It's good insurance to consider getting the latest copy of XP pro, fortunately I have a friend who could "slipstream" Service Pack 2 into my LEGAL copy of XP Pro. This is one of those things that is a pain in the A, cost money and you may never need it, but if you do, you'll wish you did.
Dell's are pretty good off-the-shelf comps, they still put quality components into them instead of trimming the cost with junk HD's and the like.
Hmmm never heard of slipstreaming before. I did some digging around and it looks like I can slipstream XP home. Can you explain why I need XP Pro? I've had both in the past and I actually like XP Home better.
Home has no capabilities that are not also present in Pro.
I can't imagine buying a machine that I couldn't join a domain with, but I realize not everyone has that "need".
