Do You Build or Buy?

[Skrying]

Very interesting. While I fully expected it to heavily lean towards the build side here at B3D, I was not expecting it to be this much.

Thanks very much for everyone voting here, and special thanks to those who posted why.

 

[nintenho]

Build desktop and buy laptop. I don't get how building is fun, but it's a lot cheaper and you get better parts.

 

[Tahir2]

I build and building PC's is my main job. Before anyone berates me, building a PC for a friend or yourself is very different to building PC's constantly from scratch all with different specifications and especially fun when they have been specced up by someone else.

But then I get to build cutting-edge hardware systems just about everyday. My own system has a 2MB S3 Virge in it (I kid not) at the moment and is almost silent...

 

[Dave Glue]

Build for me. But after "supporting" my friends and family, no more builds for them. I'll just direct them to an HP or equivalent OEM that has decently priced machines with PCI-E16X slots.

 

[nintenho]

55 build and 1 buy in the poll. Wow that's a lot even for this forum.

 

[fallguy]

I have only bought one time, and that was just to get the LCD it came with. I got a 1800FP several years ago, and a crappy PC for just over $300. At the time, the LCD was worth more than that. Got the PC, sold it, and kept the LCD. Came out with about $150 in the LCD after tax, shipping and other crap.

I build every time for me and my family. Cheaper, and no proprietary crap.

 

[digitalwanderer]

55 build and 1 buy in the poll. Wow that's a lot even for this forum.

Yeah I know, it surprised me too.

I wonder who the buy was, I did not expect any!

 

[Skrying]

Yeah I know, it surprised me too.

I wonder who the buy was, I did not expect any!

Really?

I expect something like 50:10.

 

[Tim Murray]

Does a serious car enthusiast just buy something from the local dealer and call it a day? That's the obvious comparison.

 

[BRiT]

I have only bought one time, and that was just to get the LCD it came with. I got a 1800FP several years ago, and a crappy PC for just over $300. At the time, the LCD was worth more than that. Got the PC, sold it, and kept the LCD. Came out with about $150 in the LCD after tax, shipping and other crap.

LOL! I did the exact same thing, but got lucky on eBay and came out with the LCD for a final cost of $75. Now the LCD is part of my sister's XPC system.

 

[Moloch]

Build. Simple reasons really, it's cheaper and better.

Too many pre-builts cut corners, I prefer knowing what every bit of my kit is and where it came from.

Mainly a quality issue for me, I've never seen a pre-built that I considered as good as one I built myself.

QFT

 

[_xxx_]

Build, both cheaper and better.

 

[[maven]]

As the single yes-vote, ever tried building a (supported) Apple-system yourself...
/hides

 

[BRiT]

As the single yes-vote, ever tried building a (supported) Apple-system yourself...
/hides

Yes, but not fully supported... I helped a friend build a MAC system back in the G3/G4 days and flash-modding ATI 8500 to MAC firmware. Total PITA. But we got it working and for significantly less than buying one would have been.

In this day and age, it's significantly easier to just buy the Apple product.

 

[ANova]

As the single yes-vote, ever tried building a (supported) Apple-system yourself...
/hides

Bah, Apple doesn't count.

 

[Frank]

Build. It has to be exactly the way I want it to, and I save money at the same time. But I recommend prebuild for others, I don't want the hassle. Although I help them picking and choosing it.

 

[LunchBox]

It depends on what function your computer will be used for. Generally I build for myself (gaming, video editing) but I buy for others (net browsing, e-bills, etc.). I don't like mixing my computer use.