NFB: Sources for computer parts....

[Dave M]

I know we have a few computer geeks...errr... I mean, IT techs on the board, so I got a question for ya.....

What are some good sources for quality build-you-own computer parts? I've got some old desktops and laptops sitting around that I'd like to try to upgrade, just to tinker with. I'm not looking at anything fancy, just adding some more power so they can handle today's programs.

I've found some online sources of parts, but don't know anything about the companies to know if they're trustworthy, quality parts, etc... If anyone has done this type of thing before, let me know where you got your parts and how did it go?

Thanks!

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Hey Dave,

I use http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Home.jsp They rate very high at http://www.bizrate.com/ and are usually about the cheapest on bizrate.

Jeff

[pete]

I'm a computer abuser/user, not a geek, but I've purchased bits and pieces from: tigerdirect.com Stuff shows up quick, and seems to be a good prices.

[Dave M]

Thanks Jeff,
I've gotten catalogs before from Tiger Direct. www.tigerdirect.com Do you know anything about them? Have you used them before? They seem cheap, but I've never ordered before.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I have a friend who bought a computer case from Tiger. When he got it, it was broken. They said they would not give him a refund. They would only exchange it. So he shipped it back. About 3 weeks later he had not received a replacement so he called them. They had not shipped out a new one yet. He asked for a refund and they would not give it to him. Well he didn't want to wait any longer to build his computer so he bought a case locally. A couple weeks later still no case from them. He called them and demanded a refund. They still refused. He said he was calling the better business burro, bizrate and a few others. He then got his refund. He said he would never buy from them again.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I know we have a few computer geeks...errr... I mean, IT techs on the board, so I got a question for ya.....

What are some good sources for quality build-you-own computer parts? I've got some old desktops and laptops sitting around that I'd like to try to upgrade, just to tinker with. I'm not looking at anything fancy, just adding some more power so they can handle today's programs.

I've found some online sources of parts, but don't know anything about the companies to know if they're trustworthy, quality parts, etc... If anyone has done this type of thing before, let me know where you got your parts and how did it go?

Thanks!

I forgot to add this. Laptops are really not upgradeable. You can't put a new motherboards in them. You'll be lucky to find ram for it. You might be able to upgrade the hard drive in it. It's just not worth fooling with.

Depending on the desktop, it might not be upgradeable either to any degree that would make it worth the money. If you want to upgrade from like a P3 to a P4, you have to replace the motherboard and the ram. P2s and early P3s used mostly PC100 and PC133 ram. Late P3s use SDRAM but it's probably really slow ram. The hard disk is probably too small to be useful so you'll want a new one. Heck you can get a 100 gig for about $100. I had to buy a new case when going from a P3 to a P4 but I don't remember why. The interface speed of the video card increased as the motherboards improved. I don't think the new motherboards will go back to being able to use a slow video card. I have an Intel D850MV motherboard and it won't use anything slower than a 2X video card. The Intel 865 chip set won't use anything slower than a 4X video card. About all you'll be able to use is a $10 floppy.

I do believe you can build a better computer for cheaper than you can buy one though. I've never bought a store built computer. I've been building them since about 1980 when I built a Timex Sinclair 1000. :^)

[fastTa]

I like www.newegg.com, www.tigerdirect.com, and www.compgeeks.com.

[Dave M]

Jeff, thanks for the info about the laptops. I have an old Compaq laptop that probably wasn't even top of the line in its heyday, and was thinking about trying to add a new chip or ram or something, but I don't know much about it. Any new chips being sold today I'm sure aren't compatible... There may be some older chips that are, but finding them now probably isn't worth the effort. I just use it at work to keep me entertained with a few games and Word... what I really need is a new battery for it, the current one doesn't hold a charge. Needs to be run on AC power constantly. Having a hard time even finding that though. My next computer may very well be built by myself. There are a lot of inexpensive computers out there now, but for about the same cost you can build one yourself that has a whole lot more features and power. About the only place you save money on the store bought ones is the software bundles.

[TraceZ]

http://www.newegg.com

I just ordered a Sony 52X CD writer for $27.00 including delivery and tax.

not bad.

[SteveH95Formula]

You can build your self a really nice computer for $500 or less in parts. The processor and operating system would be the most expensive things.

[fastTa]

http://www.newegg.com

I just ordered a Sony 52X CD writer for $27.00 including delivery and tax.

not bad.

I ordered a Plextor PlexWriter 52x writer for $44 from newegg.com and it was delivered in 4 days. Man I love this thing. Takes less than a minute to burn a full music CD!

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Jeff, thanks for the info about the laptops. I have an old Compaq laptop that probably wasn't even top of the line in its heyday, and was thinking about trying to add a new chip or ram or something, but I don't know much about it. Any new chips being sold today I'm sure aren't compatible... There may be some older chips that are, but finding them now probably isn't worth the effort. I just use it at work to keep me entertained with a few games and Word... what I really need is a new battery for it, the current one doesn't hold a charge. Needs to be run on AC power constantly. Having a hard time even finding that though. My next computer may very well be built by myself. There are a lot of inexpensive computers out there now, but for about the same cost you can build one yourself that has a whole lot more features and power. About the only place you save money on the store bought ones is the software bundles.

That's very true about the software. You can get some good stuff like that. Just keep in mind that a lot of store bought mass produced computers use cheap parts that can be less stable. I'm not saying that all do but I know some do. They may use Cyrix chip sets instead of Intel chips sets. We bought 10 computers with Cyrix chips sets and I've already replace 2 motherboards and have 1 more on order to replace. 7 have been fine. 3 have had major problems. They are ASUS boards too. Never again for me. It will be Intel boards from now on. If a computer manufacturer can save $10 on a motherboard and they build 1000 computers that's a $10,000 savings to them. I think you get better computers from the small shop around the corner. They live and die on their reputation. You can sometimes get software packages with them and sometimes can direct them as to what parts to use.

[TraceZ]

I ordered a Plextor PlexWriter 52x writer for $44 from newegg.com and it was delivered in 4 days. Man I love this thing. Takes less than a minute to burn a full music CD!

We run the PlexWriters at work. Awsome drives. NewEgg rocks. I just looked and they have 80GB hard drives on sale now for $68.00.

A couple months ago ordered 2, I run them on my server in a 160 GB striped array as a data volume. The access speed is very fast. They are set up UDMA100 and I never have to wait for data. That is the volume that my webshare is on, and I host all my pictures for this forum, etc.

I keep 17GB of MP3s on that volume and the directory opens right up.

[Dave M]

Tech TV just had a show on a 2 terabyte hard drive setup. It had 5 400 mb drives and a 200 mb drive. Costs for the drives was about $2,500. A lot but not too bad considering the sheer amount of volume you get. They said you could half that amount of space and spend under $1,000. Not what I need... I'd just like to build a nice top-of-the-line 'puter, but right now it's not high on my priority list. I've got a 2.0 Ghz Dell that runs just fine. It could use some more speed (what couldn't) and more hard drive space (40 GB) but it's not too bad. Anyone know how upgradeable these machines are? I.E. What type of chip could I drop in, or could I parallel another hard drive with it? I've got a spare 5.25 and 3.5 drive space... haven't opened it up to see what type of space I have inside. I think I ordered it with 256 Mb ram... don't remember if that was upgradeable or not on the current motherboard.

[Formulaboy95]

Plextor, ah..... definately some other geeks out there! On my third drive (first one still works!) using the new PX-708UF DVD burner

Personally I use pricewatch.com for most stuff. I go to computer shows to pick up most of the stuff though. Ended up spending my SLP header money on a video card Asus AX800 Pro/TDV, just to play a computer game... Oh, and to edit my Hi-8 videos from the race track too!