Shopping for low-cost bare-bones

[Jonathan Hutchins]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Hoelscher [mailto:mohoelx at sbcglobal.net]

> Curiosity  question - where is your favorite place to shop 
> for barebones
> systems, locally (KC metro) or online?
 
> I mean case, mobo, cpu, memory type combos.  I'd be looking for
> 'respectable', but not 'great'.  I.e.; something along the lines of an
> Athlon around 1 to 1.5 GHz, or such.  Not against Intel, but 
> definitely cost-conscious.

It's hard to beat DTech for price - they've got the volume.

It's also hard to deal with them if anything you buy has a problem.  They
are not unusually high in their failure rate, but they are very difficult to
deal with if you do have a problem, and there is no assurance that something
you buy from them based on price is actually any good at what it's supposed
to do.  They will stock stuff that's too cheap to be any good.

Other places vary, but several of us have had very good luck with Payless
Computers at 81st. and Wornal.  They stock decent hardware that they build
into machines which they stand behind very soundly.  On those occasions
where something does go wrong, they are decent and civil about dealing with
it.  When it comes to pre-built systems from them, they provide excellent
post-sale customer support.

If you want cheap for cheap's sake, other dealers will beat them, but
several of us have found that it's worth a little more not to have to go
fight with somebody when something goes wrong.

www.paylesscomputers.com