I dont think it has nothing to do with ignorance. I know that you know your shit when it comes to computers, no questions asked. The guy has a monitor, has a general idea of what he wants, and does not want to deal with any bloatware that might come with his machine.
He gets to buy the system to exactly the specs he can afford, gets the satisfaction of putting it together, and doesn’t have to deal with any extra un-installing or sales to maybe save him 20 bucks? (Assuming the monitor sells for ~120)
Oh, and btw OP, I would suggest just buying one from techbargains. I may be offering some counter points to Baldy but with your case I think he is 100% right in buying something pre-built as it is normally cheaper than something you can build yourself.
He could always just wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows? He’d have to do a fresh install with his custom build anyways.
NOW, if he is saying “I feel like building a PC just to do it again and have my own…” then all of my arguments are invalid. There is a little pride in building it yourself and saying “That’s MY computer!” and not “Hey, check out my Dell…”
Either way, anything he gets today (even the crappiest of processors) will be better than his 6 year old computer. I’m sure he’ll be happy with whatever he gets.
the only fallback with Dell PCs (at least the non-XPS w/e) is the low FSB of the mobo.
Otherwise I completely agree wit baldy & LZ
Last two general purpose PCs I bought were dell (timed it right to score a 22" & 24" monitor for stupid cheap / free), as well as the last two laptops. No problems in the last 3-4 yrs on any of em.
I too agree with baldy. With his main uses being internet, music and movies, his best bet is to buy a dell and just wipe the HD to avoid all the extra bs. Although you get a much better rig by building it yourself, it can cost more. With a Dell you arent paying for the fancy overclockable motherboard, or the fancy $300 video card. Dell has some budget PCs that are made specifically for people with those needs and nothing more. Go with a Dell in this case. Especially if hes just tossing a 20% off coupon code at ya.
I would buy this. Add in the free update to Windows 7 and this will last you at least another 6 years. Sell the monitor and recoup some of it if you don’t want one.
Thanks for the input…I considered all the options and adjusted my needs/budget a bit. I decided I might be doing some gaming and would like to have something with some of the newer tech. Sticking with onboard video for now . I’ll see where that gets me and then a decent card is less than $100 if needed in the future.
Ended up finding a nice deal on a phenom II x3 720 with an AM3 board so built around that. Its got some nice overclocking potential to play with too. I do like building my own system and knowing exactly whats in it. I’ve had great luck with my old one that has basically run 24/7 for those six years.