Buying vs building

[johnridley]

A friend asked me to find her for a computer or two (actually for the church). A couple of days ago I looked up parts for a midrange machine for myself, and found that it's cheaper (right now) to just go buy one, EVEN if I were to use a pirated OS on the home-built machine.

So this morning I looked up the parts for the absolute cheapest REASONABLE (not complete junk) machine I can possibly build out of new parts; it's still cheaper to just drive down to CompUSA and buy a new machine, even with paying taxes (both state and Microsoft).

Comments

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you have freecycle.com in your area, but if you do that might be worth considering. Around here, lots of people use it to get rid of old computer equip when they upgrade or whatever. Lots of free stuff, if you have the expertise to properly evaluate what you're getting. But it does require time and transportation.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I've messed with freecycle a bit. The main thing it requires is constant monitoring; anything of any value whatsoever goes in about 5 minutes around here.
I have a bunch of stuff I'm going to put up an AA Freecycle soon.

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

Yeah, timing is everything. While I've never had the time to do constant monitoring, I've had amazing luck with great items being posted just when I happen to check my e-mail. I've had less luck with giving things away. All too often the people never show up to pick stuff up. But sometimes I win by that too, when the first responder never shows up, I get a second chance to get something. Best of all, I occasionally get to see old friends who just happen to be posting something. Good luck with moving your stuff on to a new home.