Buy or Build?

I am looking at new computers for copying and editing video and DVDs. I think emachines has one with 512K, 160gb and athlon 3200 for about $599....along with many slots and USB 2 etc. 16XDVD dual layer combo drive.

Would I be able to build one myself with those capabilities for the same or less?

What would it take to build one?

Thanks,
Marty

u in america or canada?

dude i would say buy. up untill the last batch of new PC's i would have said build, but its cheaper to buy. u get a warrenty if u buy too. the prices just keep dropping and dropping. u might be able to find it cheaper though.

http://www.bensbargains.net/
this is a good place to find deals. maybe they will have your dream PC for cheap!!

I'd build it myself. The best way to find out is to find out...the prices of parts u gonna have in ur emachine. So go research a little. I'd suggest ebay but if u don't auctions http://www.newegg.com is good onine shop (mostly with cheap or even free shipping, very fast).

If you buy retail, you are limited to what is offered in the system package along with the OS that is offered. If you build, you can probably come out the same or similar price but get what you want.

Building a lot of the time is cheaper. As well, you get quality parts instead of the generic parts manufacturer's are known to stuff into cheap computers.

building nowadays most likely is not cheaper. unless u want to use pirated software. i know we shouldnt talk about that here, but Windows is like $200+. u can use Linux or unix though. that would make it cheaper.

just my opinion.
if u want to build, i dont mean to discourage you man. this is a good site:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
cheap good stuff.
i priced a build and it was cheaper to buy for me. maybe u can build for cheaper. its all about what u want the PC for.

The fact is that when you build you know what is inside your PC and as said before your are not realted to some parts that the manufacturer of that pc uses and so when you have to change a piece you can just take whatever pleases you and not what works with the PC you bought.



omg LOL

Sorry but this is prejudice big market talking. i really don't know where you got this quote from must be some spot by the RIAA or something.

Besides what is the difference then from a manufacturer who build a PC and me that i build it meself ? can't i just have fun while building it, because i don't trust when other people put stuff in the PC you buy ?

And another point about the fact of it is cheap or not, when you buy a pre-build PC you HAVE to buy the OS ( M$, how weird ) while when you build it yourself you can just put unix on it on another OS

umm no u dont. at dell u can build your own.... with or without a OS. and u can select the parts you want. or none. i can scrap around and build a PC, but when u buy them u get a warrenty. and if i can buy exactly what i want, get a warrenty, and its the same cost or less, i will buy. MY OPINION!!!!

and i said that this was my opinion. u just stated yours. there was no reason to flame me big guy. dont appreciate that. notice i didnt use the term "LOL" when referring to anyone else's opinion.

BUILD ! BUILD ! BUILD ! its worth the hassel and you get a good deal . most of the time the component you buy are going to be new than the ones on a brought computer good luck !

It can't be cheaper to buy a computer assembled instead of building your own. It takes labour to build a computer and labour costs money. Unless there's some spectacular deal on, it's cheaper to build. Also, Dell's stuff crappy motherboards into a lot of their machines and also have a lot of Dell-branded chips which I'm not a big fan of. I've also heard of people having trouble upgrading Dell's because they're designed to only be used wit h the components put in them when they're first built.

So can anyone tell me how to build a computer similar to one that I can buy from emachines for less than $549?

Here is what it has (emachines 3256)

amd athlon 3200+ (which I am told is fast)
512K
160gb drive
8X DVD/CD burner
all kinds of ports for USB2 etc.
XP
no monitor

Everytime I try to build one from scratch and price it out, it comes out much more expenseive like between $800 and $1200 depending on which components I select.

Thanks
MartySH

Emachines are bargain basement. Notice they don't list a lot of components like RAM, motherboard, etc. That's because they use very cheap components. I'll try to cook something up for you.

canadian prices

B452-1018 :: Just 4 PC - Beige Mid-Tower Case with AMD Approved and Intel Pentium 4 Ready 425 Watt Power Supply |47.99|

TC1-6000 :: 1.44 MB Floppy Drive |29.99|

MBM-K8V64-3200 C :: Asus K8V Socket 754 ATX Motherboard and AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor |411.99|

TSD-160H2 :: Hitachi / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-150 / Hard Drive |139.99|

K24-4906 :: Kingston 512MB Non-ECC, CL3 PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory |119.97|

P450-7253 :: XFX GeForce MX 4000 / 128MB DDR / AGP 8X / VGA / TV Out / Video Card |80.99|

T925-2029 :: Thermaltake TR2 M6 / Socket 754/940 / AMD Athlon 64/Opteron / Ball Bearing / Copper Core / CPU Cooling Fan |18.99|

M17-5631 :: Microsoft Windows XP Home Service Pack 2 |252.99|


total: 1097.90






american

Rosewill Black ATX Mid Tower Case with 400W Power Supply, Model "R114A Black" -RETAIL |49.99|

Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD2500JD, OEM Drive Only |139.99|

V-DATA 184 Pin 512M DDR PC-2700 - OEM|74.00|

ASUS "K8N" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL |89.99|


AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor - Retail |204.00|

AOpen nVIDIA GeForce FX5700LE Video Card, 256MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "FX5700LE-DV256" -RETAIL |95.99|


be happy, better than my computer will probably ever be, CANT WAIT TO MOVE TO AMERICA

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 452&depa=1
$141.00

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE "GA-K8VT800M" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 203&depa=1
$67.00

Memory:
Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 026&depa=1
$75.27

Hard Drive:
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD1600JD, OEM Drive Only
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 152&depa=1
$97

DVD/CD Burner:
Lite-On 8X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-832S WHT, Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 953&depa=1
$63.00

Case and Power Supply:
ANTEC Beige Performance II Mini Tower Case with 300W Power Supply, Model "SX630II" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 118&depa=1
$60.00

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 -OEM
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductde ... 151&DEPA=6
$94.00

TOTAL: $597.27

This system will DESTROY the Emachine PC you're looking at in ANYTHING. I couldn't include a video card, so if you're looking to play any newer games you'll have to buy a video card (which you'd have to do with the Emachine also).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.