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Well, after years of building my own machines I'm finally going to buy a
pre-assembled computer. I've found myself doing more and more work from
home and more and more work-related stuff with Win2k and Linux and not
enough goofing off, so I'm looking to have a computer completely dedicated
solely to playing games and having fun.
I ruled out the major mail order houses right off since you pretty much get
what they have to offer with nothing but minor changes, and what they offer
is usually not geared specifically towards gamers.
So I looked first to Falcon Northwest (http://www.falcon-nw.com), a
long-time gaming computer maker. While I'd love to have one of their
systems, I can't quite justify the premium they tack on just for it being
from them. It seems like I can get the same equipment from either of my
other two choices for hundreds or more less. There is no denying they have
the longest and possibly most distinguished history, but parts are parts,
and while I am willing to pay more to have someone else deal with putting
them together and making sure they work, it isn't worth $1,000 or more to me.
Second I looked at Alienware (http://www.alienware.com). Good machines, and
what I was planning on going with until a few days ago. Good parts, good
reviews, decent price.
Finally I looked at Hypersonic PC (http://www.hypersonic-pc.com). Not as
many reviews and awards from what I could find, but what I did find looked
good, and probably more importantly I contacted real people who had posted
to one Usenet group or another that they had recently bought them and they
had good things to say about the entire process start-to-finish in addition
to the machine itself. The same system from Hypersonic (minus the
Conspiracy Blue paint on the case) costs hundreds less than Alienware, and
probably a grand or more less than Falcon. From what I could tell
Hypersonic might be able to charge less because they don't have an
advertising budget that includes full-page ads in major gaming mags.
Anyway - if anyone has dealt with any of these companies I'd appreciate your
thoughts on them, or even the thoughts of people who haven't bought from
them - I like to get a lot of opinions before I spend $1500 or so.
What I probably don't need, but maybe others do, is to be reminded that I
could save money building it myself. Been there, done that, and while it
may be true on the surface, if I "charged" myself what I'd charge one of my
clients I'd actually spend enough to buy that expensive Falcon machine. I'd
prefer to have a Saturday or Sunday to spend playing the games or seeing a
movie or to over messing with building another computer.
Oh, and yeah, I know, some people say you won't need a PC once the Xbox
comes out. I'll get an Xbox too at some point, but I don't see it replacing
my PC, just like none of my other consoles has ever replaced it. :)
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Looking to buy a gaming rig - any thoughts?
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| (...) get (...) offer (...) Yep. They'll give you so many unneccesary software as well. "Why yes I would love Quicken, is that a Quake mod?" (...) have (...) me. I looked at them as well, and I agree that they were too expensive. (...) and (...) (...) (23 years ago, 11-Jul-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
| | | Re: Looking to buy a gaming rig - any thoughts?
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| (...) I just recently got a couple of computers (for work and home) from PCs for Everyone in Cambridge (URL). Their website could use some cgi scripting, but other than that, they're great -- very knowledgeable, even pretty decent linux experience. (...) (23 years ago, 16-Jul-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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