Computer Discussion...

[Mitchell]

Something occurred tonight that I wanted to post about. I'm not sure if it's so much a question, as much as I'd like some feedback.

I was talking to a friend online tonight. This person claims that they have never used a store bought name brand computer, but, instead, have built their own computers from scratch, with parts. I'm sure there are people that do this, but the way this person discussed it surprised me.

Then, when my mom and I were listening to TV tonight, we heard something that said that Acer is supposedly the number one selling laptop/notebook in the world. I'm wondering about this. Until the store I bought this comp from told me about the Acer, I had never heard of it before.

So, I guess what I'm asking is a two part question, I suppose: Is it common to build one's own computer from scratch, and not engage in any name brands, or store bought mass produced ones, or is the person I talked to a rarity?

Also, from what anyone has heard: is Acer in fact the number one selling laptop in the world right now, or is this just hype?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mitch

 

[Bothersome]

From what I've heard, (and I plan on doing this as well) having your computer custom-built is a fairly common occurrence.

Typically you can find the separate parts needed at a much lower price than you would if the computer was already put together. I'm going to be getting a computer with double the functionality for only half the price. About half of what I saved is due to increasing technology, but it's not uncommon for people to save up to 50% when they have their computer's custom-built. Pre-built's are overpriced. Particularly big, flashy name-brands.

The key part is to find someone who knows how to put together a computer.

I don't know about your second question, though. I detest laptops. I understand their importance and conveniences, but my desktop has never overheated on me.

 

[tkpatience]

Very interesting questions that you asked.

I recently asked myself similar questions as I watched the video card on my beloved laptop fry itself for the second time in six months.

It is not uncommon for people with the knowledge and tools to build computers from scratch. One of the best things about owning a pc is that it's customizable to the specs of the builder. Some people opt to splurge a little on a more powerful system in order to get maximum performance while others take a more cost effective approach, although the two aren't always mutually exclusive.

Another reason people like building their own, knowing the parts in your system makes it easier to replace should something go wrong with your system. Sorry geeksquad.

With that said, these days sometimes it's less time consuming to just buy a brand name one for below market cost of components and just replace parts you don't like. This probably voids the warranty, but I'll take an as-is recustomized computer to a one-size-fits-all tower any day.

As for your second question about Acer, a Taiwan (WOO TAIWAN) based pc manufacturing company, not sure if they've reached the number one in laptop sales worldwide . I wouldn't be surprised if they have considering the cost of raw parts over there is like three quarters of what it costs in the US to get. Also the Chinese are the evilest people in the world. I should know being an American born Chinese guy or as I was once described in a politically correct manner "A US citizen of color."

*side note: What Bothersome said is basically true, but if Mitchell was specifically referring to laptops I would suggest buying from a company cause the parts they use in those are tricky. As far as desktop goes, there are a couple of computers that I found online that I thought were a really good price for the capabilities. Acer Aspire X1 and X3 series and also HP Pavilion p7 1010. Both of the models being desktops without monitors, but most other peripherals include.

 

[socktickler86]

Define "common". Everyone I know builds their own computers unless they're too lazy. However, everyone I know also knows at least 1 programming language or knows what an oscilloscope is and how to use one, so maybe I'm not the best in judging "common". It's probably as common as people who change their own oil. It's not exactly rare and it's not exactly something everyone and their grandmother does. These days, building your own computer is a rather trivial task. You probably could make it a child's game because if you know what parts to get (which is actually where the difficulty comes in), it's all about matching 1 slot with another slot. All the slots have their own length so it's impossible to put something in the wrong slot these days.

Of course, that's for a rather basic setup. A friend of mine just finished building his workstation with ECC-RAM, 2 CPUs, RAID-5 hard drive array and something else that was rather non-basic which required more than just matching up the correct slots. It has been getting much simpler to build your own though, no question. The major drawback with building your own computer is that you have no tech support. Of course, people who build their own computer are smart enough to never need tech support.

I wouldn't doubt that ACER has taken the lead in computer sales. I would need to know their SE Asian sales figures to really be sure but I wouldn't doubt it a bit. They make very cheap laptops with decent quality. I bought my ACER laptop for $350 and modified it with a Solid state hard drive just for shits and giggles and it's great. Oh, and I guess that also brings up something else. Laptops are never home-built. Everything in a laptop is built in such a confined space that everything has to be integrated as much as possible and integration = non-user replaceable parts. A hard drive and cdrom are easily replaced but you're pretty much stuck with your graphics card, the power supply system, and the CPU kinda.

 

[tkpatience]

I wonder if the average layman person would have a spare anti static mat lying around.

 

[Angel_2]

My friend's brother built his own computer from parts and it works just as well as an new store bought computer. So its not uncommon its just not done too often.

I have an Acer Laptop myself but I'd never heard of the computer before I got it. It works fine for me and is really worth the money I think I paid like 500$ for it plus a mouse pad(not that flat one you can use your finger with) To be honest I would think Mac laptops are the best know as my sister has one and everyone knows of that company.

 

[asutickler]

I built the computer I'm typing on right now... Wasn't hard. Did a little research to make sure all of the parts would be compatible, took a couple of hours to put it all together and install the OS once it all got here. I'm sure most people could do it if they tried.

I see TONS of Acer laptops around, and their little netbooks are very popular as well. Wouldn't doubt that they have some serious market share these days.

 

[socktickler86]

To be honest I would think Mac laptops are the best know as my sister has one and everyone knows of that company.

They're the best known but few are willing to throw away that kind of money on a mac laptop. The only people I know with macs either blew their financial aid on it or they have no sense of living within their means.

 

[Mitchell]

Thanks for the feedback.

sock, in my case, it wasnt that I didnt build the computer I have because I'm too "lazy". Simply put, I dont know how to build one.

$500 for a laptop is a very good price. My computer cost me $740. That was complete with CD and DVD player. and also $84 for the guy's time, of one hr, to install it.

I'm not 100% sure which brand I will buy if I buy another laptop. So far, I like the Acer, so I might well stick with it.

Mitch

 

[General Zod]

Toshiba makes a good laptop as well.

 

[socktickler86]

I'd venture to say that 99 out of 100 laptops are store bought... and even that might be assuming too many custom built ones. I have never met anyone who custom builds laptops (it is possible, for those curious. Expensive, but possible. Ebay and newegg are great places to start if you are interested). I don't mean going to alienware or something and specifying what you want in the machine and they build it for you- I mean getting the parts and putting it together yourself. Screw that. 😛 IMO, laptops are still best purchased prebuilt.

Can you elaborate? To me, "custom built" means buying every part (at the least, going off a barebone set) and assembling it. This is not possible with laptops as far as I know. Like I mentioned earlier, it's easy to swap out HDDs, Optical drives, and RAM, but beyond that you're pretty stuck with what you have in a laptop and I don't know any company who has a barebone equivalent for laptops with it's own case or motherboard due to the amount of integration required.

\

sock, in my case, it wasnt that I didnt build the computer I have because I'm too "lazy". Simply put, I dont know how to build one.

Sorry, I didn't phrase that correctly. Everyone I know is capable of building one, but few do simply out of laziness. Although, thinking about it some more, a few of them don't actually know how for some reason. We're a technical bunch so it's somewhat expected that we know how to build something like that, but we're not the average joes for sure.