What computer should I buy?
Feb 03 '01
The Bottom Line Micron value customer satisfaction more than any other company out there hands down... and other industry secrets.
So you're saying to yourself - "Self, where should I buy my next computer and what should I buy?" I understand. This is a common question. I am going to try to answer this and many other questions as I ramble on.
First off, why did I post this in the Micron area? Well, I had another opinion about micron that is coming up on a year old and I wanted to update it but not delete it. I also wanted to include other PC assemblers. As I've stated before, I'm a computer tech. I run my own business and I see every brand of computer from the oldest no-name 386 to the newest high-tech Dell machine. I have been doing this for a number of years and I have been keeping track of the market for a long time. I know what companies put what hardware in their boxes and I also know which companies provide the best support. I know prices and quality and sales figures. I'm just a fanatic that way.
I'd like to answer a typical question I get... "Do I even need a new computer?" Well, there are many factors which can aid in this decision. As a rule of thumb, I usually tell people that if their PC is running on a processor that is slower than a 233mhz - it's time for a new one. New PCs with an abundance of power and features can cost under a thousand dollars these days. A few short years ago - sub-$1000 PCs were a joke. Today they are serious workhorses. With the prices so low on capable machines, there's really no reason to hold off on a purchase.
Many people ask me "Should I just upgrade this or that instead of buying a new one?" Truth be known that you can get (right now as of Feb '01) a 933mhz Pentium 3 with a 30GB HD and 128MB Ram, decent sound/video/speakers/etc, and a 17" monitor for about $1000. If that's twice the machine that you're currently using, then buy a new machine rather than upgrade this or that. The little things add up.
If your processor is an AMD K6, you might want to consider upgrading to a new PC as well - especially if you're running at 400mhz or slower. Celeron owners might also want to consider an upgrade at 400mhz or slower. Now - 400mhz is plenty capable, but with prices so low now - you might as well step up to a Pentium 3 or Athlon. Considering that you probably purchased your machine a few years ago and you probably paid around $1000 give or take 4 or 500, you have gotten your money's worth by now and for less than what you paid for that one, you can get something that's 3 or 4 times faster and better. If you have a Pentium 2 class system at 350mhz or slower, it's time to get a new one also.
All of these criteria depend on what you do with the machine as well. If you just type email to the grand-kids or play solitaire, there's really no reason to upgrade unless you've got some spare money lying around or else you're still working on something slower than 200mhz. There are many other components in a computer besides the processor that can make a difference, but typically systems have been built around the processor... that is to say that most companies didn't put weak processors (of that time) in computers with top level components.
"How much should I spend?" Now if you spend $3000 or more on a PC these days, you're still getting your money's worth even though you can get a good PC for under a thousand. This hasn't changed. Your budget should depend on (besides how much money you have to spend on the thing) what you're going to be using it for. If you're a casual user that just processes words and emails, then there's no need to spend more than 1400 or so. If you're a serious gamer that needs to squash the competiton, then you'll want to spend somewhere around 2000 on up (even though you won't be outgunned with a low-budget PC)... same goes for people running CAD or heavy graphics programs like Bryce or Photoshop. It really all comes down to how much you want to spend. There's no reason to spend more than $4500 on a system because it's going to be overkill for most anyone. Also, if you spend less than say $800 you're asking for trouble.
"Where should I start looking?" or "What brand of PC do I buy?" First of all I have to start out by saying that I don't approve of buying a PC from a B&M (read 'Brick and Mortar' as in places like Frys electronics or Best Buy or Circuit City) or from some local builder. I pretty much recommend ordering straight from the manufacturer. Some people don't like the idea of buying something they can't see in a store first. Well I guess if you have to purchase something from a store, I'd say HP and IBM are ok... stay away from everything else. You can purchase a Micron in a store, but I wouldn't... I'll go into why in a moment. Also - I wouldn't suggest Gateway either... I'll go into that in a moment also.
Outside of HP and IBM there is nothing in a retail store that I would suggest you purchase. If you purchase from a B&M, you have to deal with their tech support should something go wrong with it. B&M support is poor at best. You also don't know how long the machine you're purchasing has been sitting on the shelf. Not that it's going to go bad, but you're paying a premium for shelf space (it's included in the price of things at B&Ms) and man hours and security and just basic overhead in general. If you order from the manufacturer, they don't even make it until you order it. When I buy a computer (much like a piece of fruit), I want the freshest components available... new technology is constantly coming out making last weeks new thing obsolete. This will never change.
This all pretty much leaves us with Dell. Micron decided to start putting their machines in Best Buys and other B&Ms. My feeling with this is that when an online company with no overhead decides to go retail, one of two things is going to happen - either prices will go up or quality will go down. Look at Gateway - they used to be a company that I could recommend to my clients... they had competitive prices and great customer support and used good components in their systems. Then they open up retail outlets all across the country. After this I noticed more and more of my clients with broken Gateways. Micron is a slightly different story... they were never as big as Dell or Gateway even though they used to be the best of the 3. Most people hadn't heard of them until they started popping up in B&Ms not too long ago. The machines they put in the B&Ms are not the same ones you would get if you ordered them directly - and you're going to pay more at a B&M too.
Local vendors (as in - they operate out of one small store in your neighborhood) just don't have the money to do what Dell or Micron does. They use inferior parts so they can be cheaper than etailers or B&Ms. You'll really be sorry if you go this route.
There are many smaller eCompanies out there like Tiny or Systemax. Some of them are great, but proceed with caution because sometimes they can get swallowed up by the big boys... this happened to Quantex. You don't want to buy a PC from a company that might fade away, but that doesn't mean you can't see what they have to offer. You can often find something really appealing.
"Should I build my own?" you ask... Well, if you're an enthusiast who likes to do projects like this, then there is no substitute to purchasing just the parts you want and building the machine yourself. With a little know-how, it's not that difficult. It's easy to run into snags however with hardware not being compatible with each other. Also - if something dies, you have nobody to turn to for troubleshooting support but yourself... and if you do pinpoint the problem to one piece of hardware, you're going to have to contact that hardware's vendor or manufacturer depending on the retailer's policies. That's a lot of 1-800 numbers to know. The individual components also won't have the same warranty periods. When you buy from an assembler - most come with a 3 year warranty standard on every piece of hardware in the machine - and you only have one number to call. Building your own is only for those who really like to tweak with computers and don't like other's telling them what to do (linux lovers mostly). If you were thinking about doing it to save money - the money you would save in a part for part comparison is nothing compared to how much your time is worth (time spent putting it together) and the lack of support you're getting. You really don't save money - it will cost you more in the long run. Companies like Dell buy components in bulk and get them cheaper than you can - the reason you might spend a little more buying from an assembler is that you're also paying for them to put them together, test them, support them, and make a tiny profit.
Here's what prompted me to write this column... one of my oldest clients bought a Micron (on my recommendation) about 6 months ago to replace his Dell. When it arrived, I set it up and transferred his files. After I left, the thing started going berserk. He had other things going on and couldn't get me over to handle it, but after weeks of fussing with it he gave up and stored it in a corner. Our schedules finally click and I head over to check out the disaster. After giving it the once-over, I realized that there was a strange hardware conflict that was messing with everything. I called up Micron to see what they could do about it. I spoke with a technician who easily discovered (as I had) exactly what was causing the main problem and knew how to fix it. My client wasn't satisfied with the answer - his experience with Micron was 6 months of hell. So he was ready to give it away to someone. I told the tech this and he said there was nothing he could do, but he could put me on with a supervisor who might help.
Less than a minute later, a supervisor is on the phone with me ready to do whatever he can to make us happy. My client wanted the computer out of his life. He wanted to either give it away, send it back and get his money back, or get a complete system replacement. I told this to the supervisor who said - "first of all, I can't give him the money back because it's been 6 months." I said I knew that. Then he said "second of all, I can't replace the machine - again because of how long ago it was purchased." - I asked him what he could do. He said "I can send you a pre-paid shipping label and you can ship the unit back to us where we will bench test everything and replace anything that isn't working perfectly." My client said he still didn't want the machine because it was a lemon. We went back and forth a few times and we narrowed it down to two options... Either they replace his system or he'll just give it away. He was determined to not let us give it away - he wanted Micron to be in our good graces no matter what. He makes a phone call to his supervisor (who was eating dinner with his wife) on his cell phone and gets approval to replace my client's system after he had it for 6 months. That's amazing. He got his replacement 3 days later and Micron even sent somebody with the machine to set it up in his home to make sure it was working properly! Wow. My phone time with Micron to take care of this was about the same as an average hold time waiting for a Dell tech.
If this was Best Buy - you would have to bring your PC in to their store, have the problem be too much for their in-house techs to handle, have it shipped off to another location (this usually takes 3 weeks or so), and have all of this happen a total of three times before Best Buy will agree to replace your PC. Even then, good luck. Dell would never do such a thing (unless you were rich and powerful and contacted Michael Dell directly and yelled at him). I'm not saying Dell tech support or their customer support isn't good, but it can't touch Micron. I'd have to say that overall - Dell is the best all-around company to buy a PC from these days... but nobody stands behind their product like Micron does. I've never been so impressed with a company in all my life. They restored my faith in them.
If you asked me to rank a few major PC assemblers based on price, performance, support, and quality, it would look something like this:
Low-budget:
1. Dell
2. Micron
3. Alienware
4. Gateway
5. HP
6. IBM
High-Budget:
1. Alienware
2. Micron
3. Dell
4. IBM
5. HP
6. Gateway
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Epinions.com ID:
Trigger
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Location: Arizona
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