Monday, September 19, 2005

Build-To-Order Or Retail?

Velocity Micro (on the left) and at the bottom I have some of the PC's I will be talking about. I will be buying a new PC for Christmas, and I want it to last for a really long time. So I looked in the Sunday's paper and on Retail stores websites like Circuit City, Best Buy, Compusa, Office Depot, Office Max, ABC Warehouse, etc. I couldn't find any that I want from the retail stores, not enough choices for me. To find right one for me, and then I went to the build-to-order PC websites, like Velocity Micro, Alienware, VoodooPC, Dell, Falcon Northwest, Gateway, Tigerdirect, ABS, etc. And I notice that they have a lot more choices, like more hard drive space, case choices, things like that. Dell and Gateway only takes checks and credit card payment, so that's out the question, Voodoo PC's didn't have the right choices for me, neither do ABS, and Alienware and falcon Northwest are just too expensive for me. What's left? Tigerdirect and VelocityMicro, from Tigerdirect I chose The Systemax Venture HU H630 Intel Build-to-order PC Pentium 4 Built-To-Order Intel 955X Desktop PC $899.99 and $2,347.93 the final price after I did sconfigurationring. Here's what I wanted:

Printers: No Printer Selected
Accessories: Systemax Foxconn ATX Branding Pack
Networking: Integrated Gigabit Network Adapter
Keyboards / Mice / Input: No Mouse Selected
Software: No Software Bundle Selected
Modems: No Modem Selected
Monitors: No Monitor Selected
Speakers: No Speakers Selected
Accessories: Black Venture Label
Components: Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Accessories: No Firewire Card Selected
Removable Data Storage: No Card Reader Selected
CD/DVD Drives: 52x32x52/16x CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
Accessories: 1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ 1 Year Onsite
Keyboards / Mice / Input: Systemax 104 Black Keyboard
Software: Consumer Software
Software: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
CD/DVD Drives: 16X DVD+R/RW-R/RW Dual Layer Drive
Software: No Antivirus Software
Hard Disk Drives: Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 250GB (7200 RPM)
Hard Disk Drives: Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 250GB (7200 RPM)
Software: No Anti-Spyware Software
Digital Cameras: No Camera Selected
Power Protection: No Power Protection
Processors: Intel P4 CPU 650 3.4 GHz/800FSB/2M S775
Memory: 4GB DDR2 PC4200 Non-ECC Memory (1GB x 4)
Cables: No Cable
Wireless Networking: No Wireless Router
Accessories: Systemax Venture HU H630
Accessories: Intel D955X Chipset ATX Case w/ 350 Watt PS
Video / Graphics Cards: ATI Radeon X800GT 256MB PCI-Express Graphics Card

then I looked at the Velocity Micro PC, I loved the choices they have the people they are nice and helpful unliked the people at Tigerdirect and Systemax, it seem like nobody works they. You the lotschoicesoses of payment options like wire transfers and money orders, just like Alienware and Voodoo. I chose The ProMagix A/V/D for $1,965.00 before configuration and after $2,350.00. Here's what I wanted:


Core Compontents:
Case: LXe-W Black - Velocity Micro Signature Case - Pure Aluminum with side window,
removable front door, extended depth (+$15.00)
Power supply: 500 Watt power supply with dual fans
Motherboard: Intel D925XECVLK 925XE Chipset motherboard with DDR2, PCI Express
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 650 with HT, 3.4 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, EM64T, XD, LGA775 Socket (+$130.00)
CPU Cooling: Intel Cerifed High Preformance Heatsink/Fann
DDR2 Memory: 2048MB Mushkin DD2 PC4200 DDR533 Enhanced Memory (4x512)
(+$170.00)

Audio & Video:
PCX Video: 128MB eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 6600, Dual Heads
Video Tuning: Basic 3D Video Performance Tuning & Optimization
TV Tuner: Compro PCI TV Tuner Card "VideoMate Ultra" (Already Have)
Monitor : Rosewill 17" Black LCD Montior (Already Have)
Audio: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS with 1394 FireWire Port, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 channels (-$95.00)
Speakers: Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speaker (Already Have)

Storage:
Hard Drive: 1 200GB Western Digital WD200JD 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache (-$60.00)
Hard Drive: 2 200GB Western Digital WD200JD 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache (+$40.00)
Hard Drive: 3 200GB Western Digital WD200JD 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache (+$145.00)
Optical Drive: 1 16x Lite On DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Dual Layer, Black Bezel
Optical Drive: 2 16x Lite On DVD/48x CD-RW Combo Drive, Black Bezel
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB Floppy Drive, Black Bezel
Media Reader: Brother MFC Media Card Reader (Already Have)

Communications: Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter
Modem: Some other one
FireWire: Integrated IEEE 1394 FireWire Port
USB 2.0: Ports 6 USB 2.0 Ports

Software Operating: Microsoft Windows XP Pro w/Service Pack 2 on original CD, Installed & Performance System Tuned:
Productivity Software: FREE - Corel WordPerfect Office 11 - includes WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Presentaions ($99 retail value)
Software Bundle: FREE - Ulead Digital Creation Suite - PhotoImpact, VideoStudio, DVD MovieFactory
Security Software: avast! version 4.6 Home Edition (Already Have)
Recovery Disk: Custom DVD Restore Disk, returns your system hard drive to original factory installation

Accessories:
Internal Cables: Standard Premium Ribbon IDE and Floppy Cables
Keyboard: Microsoft Wireless Desktop Optical 3.0 USB / PS/2 -OEM (Already Have)
Mouse:
Network Cable: Cable Patch CAT. 5E 3' Black (Already Have)
MP3 Player:
Printer: Brother Multifunction Printer (Already Have)
Printer Cable:
Digital Camera: Fuji FinePix 5.2MP Digital Camera (Already Have)

Power Protection: Ground Gold 12 Outlet Surge Protector (Already Have)

T-Shirt: Velocity Micro Limited Edition T -shirt in Blue, size XL

Support:
Assembly Immaulate custom hand wiring and origami-style folded drive cables for ultimate
air flow, assembled in Richmond, Vriginis, USA
Quality Assurance Indivdual custom testing for complete component and software functionality, signed by the system builder and QA inspector

Documentation: Owner's Portfolio with Velocity Micro manual, driver disks, and accessory pack

Installation: (I will do it myself)

Warranty** 3 Year VelocityCare Part & Labor Limited Warranty, 1 Year 24/7 Support with Emergency Hours, and On-Site Service

Upgrade Plan: Lifetime Upgrade Plan - For a $99 fee, you may return your system for cleaning, maintenance, discounted upgrades, and tuning


I think I'll just buy The Velocity Micro, Just because I like the case better, free cool t-shrit, and the great customer service! But I wouldn't mind getting the Dell 19" monitor Model # e193FPp..LOL!

4 comments:

marquita188 said...

thanks Blogger News!

marquita188 said...

Thanks Dr. X!

marquita188 said...

Dr. x, why did you post the same thing again?

Roberto Iza Valdés said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.