[colug-432] Cost v. Price for a new build

[Steve Roggenkamp]

Years ago I went to upgrade a system on my son's Dell computer.  The
problem was that I couldn't upgrade just one system, I had to upgrade
several.  It's been six or eight years, so I don't remember the details,
but I remember thinking that they had designed everything to be a part of
the bigger system and engineered to minimize initial cost, so I couldn't
just go to Microcenter and get an upgraded part without changing half of
the other components.

I decided at that time to build my own systems since I could select the
parts and have an upgrade path.  Buying individual parts meant the
manufacturers could not assume a specific system configuration and they
would have to conform to industry standards.

I normally purchase a motherboard with the latest socket and a
mid-performance CPU.  As the prices of CPUs came down and the performance
went up I could easily switch the lower performance CPU for a better one
without breaking the bank.  So far, this has worked quite well.

I've switched several hard drives out as the cost of drives have declined
and a couple have failed.  I've also switched the CPU on at least one
occasion.

Building your own system provides the flexibility to upgrade as your needs
change without having to purchase a whole new system.


Steve


On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 7:17 PM, tom <thomas.w.cranston at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 01/25/2014 05:53 PM, Rick Hornsby wrote:
> > the old Microsoft tax
> You can order a Dell with or without Microsoft. Same price. I am
> guessing that Microsoft let Dell have Microsoft for very little. A smart
> move that gave MS ubiquity in the market place.
>
> Tom
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>
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