[techtalk] RE: advice on building a system

[Shelly L. Hokanson]

>>>>Is it realistic to expect to build a nice system for $1200 or so?

hi cathy,

very realistic. i'm a tech at a place that custom builds whitebox pc's
for people and businesses, and even our high end non-PNP systems start
around $600 (without monitor or O/S, though provided O/S's are installed
free of charge, ie. if you already own windoze and don't want to feed
bill gates any more cash).

my advice would be to shop around some custom shops, either local
mom-n-pop type shops (that are reputable), or mail order custom build
systems. (and i don't mean the compaq or gateway version of "custom
built."). at least that way you can usually choose your brands/models
etc of your components to be sure that what's in your system will work
under linux. just be sure to shop for reputation as well and ask about
warranty issues. you can get really good systems and service at a lot of
smaller shops, or you can run into a chop shop that'll be gone next
year...

fyi, my linux box is an AMD K6-2 350, 128mb pc100 sdram, a DFI K6BV3
mainboard (1MB cache, 100mhz bus), ati video card (32mb rage fury for my
3d games in windoze), rockwell chipset isa jumpered 56k modem, sound
blaster awe32 sound and an old 3com 3c509 nic card. all set up nicely
without a hitch under redhat and mandrake.

that's my two cents!  =)

good luck,

shelly
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