A New Computer
I suppose this is more of a blog entry than an "article" but it may be of interest to some of you regardless. Recently I purchased a new computer. I know: we're talking about me--you're interested already. I'll tell you why this is a big deal. I'm one of those nerds that knows how to put a computer together. I put my last computer together with parts that I purchased or scrapped myself. If I can do all of that, why purchase a brand computer instead of individual parts? I'll tell you why: Windows.
When you put together your own computer, you inevitably have to install an OS (that's "Operating System" for the less tech savvy). You could go with a free Linux distribution, but not only do you have to figure out which of the many "distros" is best for you, you have to find one that actually installs (a daunting feat--I've never been successful). And don't plan on doing any gaming with Linux--there aren't any serious games for it. I mean, at least Mac has the various Blizzard games; Linux has nothing.
That leaves Windows (as far as I know, you can't "put together" a Macintosh). A legitimate Windows OS costs around $300. Yes, $300 just for the OS. For most computers, that's more expensive than any singular component. You would either have to suck it up and shell out the cash, or find and install an illegal version of Windows.
I've tried the latter, and it wasn't pretty. First I installed a pretty basic cracked version of Windows XP. I couldn't update it so I was forced to find a new OS that would fully recognize the hard drive I wanted to install without constantly crashing. I found one in the form of an XP-Vista hybrid. This OS had compatibility issues with some of my games that I couldn't resolve because the OS wasn't legal. Finally I tried one called Crystal XP-- the worst XP hack of all. It was incredibly unstable, randomly crashed, and it crashed so hard that it ended up physically damaging my hard drive.
So I knew what I had to do--or at least I thought I did. I was going to replace the hard drive, an expenditure of at least $80, and suck it up and shell out the $300 for a legal version of Windows. That's a total cost of $380--more if I wanted a larger hard drive. So I strolled into Wal-Mart (it was midnight, I was impatient, and it was the only store open in town save for fast food) and I notice some desktop PCs (pre-built of course) for under $500. I figured the specs were crap but decided to look anyway. To my surprise the specs on these PCs smoked my home-built PC, which I've probably spent over $1,000 on. I had a choice: spend the $400 or so on a hard drive and Windows or spend an extra hundred on what is essentially the same thing plus an upgrade on every single piece of hardware I had and a warranty. You can see how it wasn't really a choice at all.
Lesson? It's cheaper and more convenient to simply purchase a new pre-built computer every few years than it is to try to build one yourself. Putting one together is fun and it's great if you have the money to do it-- especially if you can spend the big bucks and build a truly great machine. For me, though, I'll just have to miss the joy of putting together a computer.
Maybe that's why this feels more like a defeat than a victory.
When you put together your own computer, you inevitably have to install an OS (that's "Operating System" for the less tech savvy). You could go with a free Linux distribution, but not only do you have to figure out which of the many "distros" is best for you, you have to find one that actually installs (a daunting feat--I've never been successful). And don't plan on doing any gaming with Linux--there aren't any serious games for it. I mean, at least Mac has the various Blizzard games; Linux has nothing.
That leaves Windows (as far as I know, you can't "put together" a Macintosh). A legitimate Windows OS costs around $300. Yes, $300 just for the OS. For most computers, that's more expensive than any singular component. You would either have to suck it up and shell out the cash, or find and install an illegal version of Windows.
I've tried the latter, and it wasn't pretty. First I installed a pretty basic cracked version of Windows XP. I couldn't update it so I was forced to find a new OS that would fully recognize the hard drive I wanted to install without constantly crashing. I found one in the form of an XP-Vista hybrid. This OS had compatibility issues with some of my games that I couldn't resolve because the OS wasn't legal. Finally I tried one called Crystal XP-- the worst XP hack of all. It was incredibly unstable, randomly crashed, and it crashed so hard that it ended up physically damaging my hard drive.
So I knew what I had to do--or at least I thought I did. I was going to replace the hard drive, an expenditure of at least $80, and suck it up and shell out the $300 for a legal version of Windows. That's a total cost of $380--more if I wanted a larger hard drive. So I strolled into Wal-Mart (it was midnight, I was impatient, and it was the only store open in town save for fast food) and I notice some desktop PCs (pre-built of course) for under $500. I figured the specs were crap but decided to look anyway. To my surprise the specs on these PCs smoked my home-built PC, which I've probably spent over $1,000 on. I had a choice: spend the $400 or so on a hard drive and Windows or spend an extra hundred on what is essentially the same thing plus an upgrade on every single piece of hardware I had and a warranty. You can see how it wasn't really a choice at all.
Lesson? It's cheaper and more convenient to simply purchase a new pre-built computer every few years than it is to try to build one yourself. Putting one together is fun and it's great if you have the money to do it-- especially if you can spend the big bucks and build a truly great machine. For me, though, I'll just have to miss the joy of putting together a computer.
Maybe that's why this feels more like a defeat than a victory.
posted by squarecircle at
12:05 AM
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