Whatcha think of this budget system?

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 5:13 pm

Duron 1.3GHz on MSI 6378X-L
Onboard Sound, Video, and LAN
512mb PC133
60gb Deskstar 7200RPM
Case with 300w PS
16X DVD
17" KDS Monitor
Generic KB/Mouse

Parts came up to 509. Charging 650.

So whatcha think? Did I do well?

Oh yeah and I got everything from newegg. So I suppose I prolly could have gotten a little bit cheaper. But hey.

Hopefully it will all be here by friday.

Judg3 · Post by **Judg3** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 1:27 am

$509 sounds a tad high, unless you got like a KDS Pro .24 monitor and a $100+ case, but still a pretty good deal.
I built my fiance' a complete system from Newegg for $603 with an XP2100, GB MB, Radeon, 80gb samsung, 512mb pc2700, enermax case, 52x cd-r and a 16x dvd. That's why I thought your prices look a bit higher then they should be.

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 6:44 pm

I agree it sounds a tad high, depending what brands of case and P/s and M/b etc..
I think if you had done some shopping you could have either gotten alot more for the same money, or saved money on about the same items. Are you building these to sell? Cost $509 Charging $650?

2000 XP retail less than $100
17" kds monitor at Walmart for $119 or so, I have 3 and love them.
80 gig maxtor about $100 or less, or WD about the same. I'm buying the 120gig wd specail edition $137
DDR Ram is dropping fairly fast. 512 around $60-$80 ???
52x lite on burner $50 -$60
Lite-on 16x DVD $50
Biostar Pro, everything onboard M/b $60 also has 6 channel sound.
I am installing that into another Dragon tower case with 450 watt P/s which cost about $90 with shipping.

I think off hand this power house system is costing me about $650 to build with a few extras like both CD burner and 16X dvd. Logetech Z640 5.1 speakers.

Of course an OEM package win 2000pro or XP pro is extra $150 my cost.

How much did shipping add up to on that? Newegg is pretty bad on shipping at times, but claims the shipping charge goes down to a more accurate amount as you add more items. It never has for me in the cart, so I don't place the orders!
I never ordered the stuff when it show's High shipping and does not recalculate lower as they say it will.

Mostly I buy stuff with free shipping from Newegg. I buy my other stuff often from other places then.

I was buying alot from tcwo.com, they were cheaper than Newegg for a long time and always have a one price flat rate shipping charge of about $9 or less up to 150lbs, great service. Lately however they are higher than Newegg, sometime a dollar sometime quite a bit more. But still the shipping is a big deal when comparing the two!

I bought from Directron.com, I liked them ok so far. Prices are so so, Cases seem to be less, and shipping is far more reasonable unless you get a newegg free shipping deal on the same parts.

It really pays to shop around!!

For instance at Svc.com an extra cold cathode tube is $3 cheaper than at bestbyte.net, but then bestbyte is about $2-$3 cheaper on the cold cathode kits! So if you need lots of kits and tubes, you order extra tubes at svc for $5 and the kits with one tube and a double inverter at bestbyte for $10!
A bit of a pain for just one double cathode kit, but if you are buying like 10, then you save $30 - $50 or so!

You would have to pay shipping at one place anyway, so only the extra shipping from the second place would count as extra cost! bestbyte.net normally pops up with about $5 shipping on all my orders, I always choose the cheapest option though.

Now alot of people have a tendancy to pop up with , I don't have time for all that dinking around so I buy all at one place, it saves me time which save money. I disagree however to that!

I look at it myself as taking an extra 10 minutes to save $50! So that means unless I am making over $300 an hour it is well worth the time! 60 minutes/10=6 X $50 savings =$300 an hour!
Nope, can't say that I actually make that much working myself

CaterpillarAssassin · Tue Mar 04, 2003 11:48 pm

Yeah I know i coulda done a little better. But I needed this stuff here by the end of this week (ordered on monday) and I needed to deal with someone I can trust. I couldnt afford to buy from someone I don't know and have complications. In most cases when I deal with someone new, it takes a long time for them to ship. Shit newegg shipped the same freaking day...

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:01 am

yep so far that is one good thing with newegg, they claim it may take a couple days before it is shipped if you read the site close, but so far I think it has always been the same day shipping for me, cept of course when I order on a weekend or at night.

Actually, after having read the newegg site closely, I had decided NOT to deal with them at that time. It was not untill I came here to PCA and talked to people who are/were dealling with newegg that I started ordering stuff from them. All that technical and legalities stuff they have posted made me think I was gonna either get ripped or it would take forever to get the stuff. I have been happy with the many orders I have placed though and still buy there alot!

Only twice was I unhappy with the shipping/packing. Once they shipped my Logitech Z640 speakers in the retail box, just put a label on it, did not pack them in a carton. The box arrived kicked in on the side, but the speakers were not hurt luckily! The other time they packed the Lite-on 52X burner up tight to the side of the packing box, again fedex kicked in the side of the box, put a hole right in the retail Lite-on box, but again lucked out, drive was not hurt!

Also I had a bad Shuttle M/b I bought and never used for about 6 months, it was dead and they RMA'd it with out any problems. I think I even got back a newer model

So I like them too, just the shipping adds up to too much if it is not free shipping deal! Like cost me $30 shipping for 2 motherboards and a couiple other little things once. But they had FREE shipping on a case and power supplie for $35 at the time! Go figure?? WHich cost more to ship, and what were they making the most profit on, a $300 order for M/bs or a $35 case?

You probably did ok on the system your building. Like you said too, you want something fast, it's not a good time to try out new dealers you don't know anything about!

Like I bought a gizzmo from some company in AU I think it was. Never heard of them before. Item still not here, been over a week, close to two. Little thing, could be shipped first class mail for about a buck probably.
I've shipped pinbacks over there and gotten feedback faster than this! About the same size package I would think, see when it gets here

So you gonna be selling these systems?

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:19 am

yeah this ones already sold. Some nursing home needed a new puter for the receptionist i think. And my aunt happened to know the guy who's head of equipment over there. So guess who got the work. Not bad money for 3 hours of work. Thats what, $50 an hour?

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:28 am

and they got a deal
most places like that pay like twice what we would sell a unit for and not blink a eye !

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 1:36 am

well i give 'em a deal this time in hopes they will call me next time. See the method to my madness? And the next time, I sell it for double

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 3:19 am

Well, you did good

The way I always look at it is if the money comming in is more than going out it's a good deal :B

And even if you could save a buck here or there, that's not the time to try out new vendors!

Good luck with repeat business. Maybe next time bump them up to a 2000xp as the reason for the double price

CaterpillarAssassin · Fri Mar 07, 2003 11:32 am

LOL yeah