[olug] Advice on a white box builder

[Phil Brutsche]

Jeff Hinrichs wrote:
> I'm looking for input on a white box builder.  Can be either local or
> online.  I need to replace some PCs at work and don't want to fork out
> what the majors are asking.

In my experience all the local retail places suck, whether you need 
individual components or whole computers.  There are some non-retail places 
around, but they only deal with companies that sell computers and almost 
never with end users.

In terms of on-line vendors... I LOVE NewEgg.com: they have just about the 
best selection of quality parts (AOpen, Asus, Tyan, Giga-Byte, Seagate, 
Kingston, 3com, Crucial) and not-so-quality-parts I've seen at prices that 
kick but.  They just don't assemble the computer for you :)

For a place that will build it for you... I've had some experience with 
Access Micro (http://www.accessmicro.com) - they have a pretty good 
selection of components at decent prices and will even build the computer 
for you :)  Just don't order systems in large quantities (ie 5 or more) - 
they didn't do a very good job on a set of 40 my boss bought for his kids' 
school.

Oh, and don't diss "the majors" (particularly Dell) so quickly - there are 
certain advantages to buying a major brand (their support itself is worth it 
if you've got a large number of workstations).  From what I can see it's 
hard to build a similarly spec'ed system as cheaply as they do once you take 
into account their shipping charges and support contracts.


Phil


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