my boss had a customer he needed to make happy so he gave me an exact budget to stay in. I had two stores to pick parts from. But get better office points if I can save time by going to just one for the computer parts.
as you can see I was up to the challenge.
The person already had their Monitors and keyboards and Speakers, Quickbooks, and Windows 7. My duty was to just build a tower that can withstand the daily office use of quickbooks, and other office tasks.
Me being the wiser know there will be some Youtube going on. I build this machine to stand against most office employees.
$750 was the challenge.
I build the ultimate work computer.
On someone else’s budget of course.
DVR-SH-224DB/BEBE
Black Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x SATA Internal DVD Burner, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 1.5MB Buffer, w/o Software. OEM
1
16.99
MB-H81M-E
ASUS H81M-E LGA1150 uATX Motherboard, Intel H81 Chipset, Supports Intel 4th Generation Core i7/i5/i3 Haswell CPUs, Dual DDR3 1600, Gigabit LAN, SATA III, USB 3.0, 8ch HD Audio, DVI
These are the parts inside of a hard drive.
If you have ever wondered what’s inside the hard drive in your computer.
That’s a 1 tb hard drive taken apart.
I have been hanging on test parts that have been given to me for reviews, and been allowed to keep. So I have held on to them because, who the heck throws away good computer parts?
Again they were all free so they are not top end but they aren’t trash.
So I snapped together a complete computer using an old HP case.
The computer boots up fine.
The parts are now dated a bit. IDE hard drive and a single core 2.5 gig Pentium Processor and an AGP slot on the motherboard.
but the cooling is good and the boot up is fast and smooth. XP operating system.
I am considering making a contest here, or turning the computer into a Roku box type media center.
The computer is currently plugged into my little 19 inch LG tv right next to the cable box and dvd player. Nothing is passing through, like cable, or dvd player. Heck it isn’t even plugged into the internet yet. I may go wifi with this computer. Uncertain yet.
I do have other cases in the garage, but I kind of want to save those for the custom mod cases I will be doing pretty soon. but that case is very heavy. Has to be over 30lbs.
You tell me, just vote yes or no if I should give the computer away in a contest here on the tech review.
Today’s build your computer special is across Fry’s and Compusa and Tiger Direct. I did the computer parts prices a bit higher saying “under” for a reason. I didn’t feel like doing the math for everything so I estimated the tax cost on most items. so go ahead and use my totals to get a ball park figure of what this computer will cost you. The main purpose of a computer build like this one is for a media center. Or I would have chunked in a DVD drive instead of the blue ray. I saw the blue ray player and price hunted to make the entertainment center computer work
To complete your system as parted, how about you make your own DVR from Knopmyth, and then just use the windows 7 as an addon and not a must have. This is better than a DVR and you can use the machine for more than just a DVR.
Enjoy your build your own. This is a fine custom computer. This is a custom budget media center computer.
If anyone wants prices on the machines I build (slightly more customized than just parts) Please respond below. Payments are up front. Machines can range from budget power computers, to high power gaming machines to media creation and media editing beasts. and anywhere in between.
iworkwithtech.comn an online garage sale for used computer parts.
My latest measure to do my part in preventing waste of goods and waste of resources. This is an online store for used computers and parts. On My Front Lawn is an internet garage sale.
Cell phones, video cards processors, dell computer parts, cooling fans and software all good and functioning. iworkwithtech used electronics and computer parts.
If you know someone that needs anything from that site, send them the link.
Posted via Android. Don’t mind the typos. I’ll fix them later.
At a local electronics store in America. I am sure many have one in mind when I say that. I decided to go to the video card section and check out some of the video cards when a ( I am uncertain if they are sales associates or stocking clerks with a strange desire to sell you something slightly more expensive) walked up to me and offered to help me. I told him I was looking for an Nvidia GTS250 1gb, this card was right behind us about mid back. The guy reached up and grabbed an Nvidia 275 card.$70 difference. He began to suggest I needed a card that was more expensive, before asking me if my computer can even handle it. Like do I have a strong power supply, Do I have pci express? Do I at least have windows xp. So I chuckle and said ” Why you gotta call me out??? I don’t have that much money”. We both chuckled at how I did that. I then broke out with specifics. I told him ” I am looking for a match to my card so I can run SLI” He started to butt in with ” this will run SLI” I laughed and continued with ” I need specs like ‘Shader Clock 1836MHz,Memory Data Rate 2240MHz,GDDR3,RAMDAC 800 total to match exactly what I have” He looked at me with his eyes glossed over and then muttered ” well if you need me my name is” blah blah blah I got glossed eyed. He walked away
While I was walking around in the video cards section, I noticed that one of the video card’s box had the shrink wrap open. The price was kind of ok, and the box was super heavy. This usually means a large card or a really heavy heatsink. I actually had that exact same video card. It was a BFG 250. It broke on me. I was trying to see if it was the same exact model as what mine is Or if it was going to be a low profile with no sli. Mine isn’t completely broke I wanted to see what I could do with mine in SLI. An employee of the store walked over to me an said that I needed to take that video card over to the manager’s station . I told him that I just wanted to confirm that the video card was what I was looking for. He said that he was (I’m paraphrasing) certain that was what i was doing then he assured me that company policy was the way it was. So I waddled up to the counter/command center (lol), and when I get up there I explain what the request was of the employee. By that time I saw all I needed to see. So I asked a question. I said ” I notice there are a whole lot of items on the shelf that had the “returned item” price marked down sticker, Why is that?”. The guy at the stand looked up and had a look in his face that I can’t explain and said “well a lot of people do not know much about what they are buying and what they have. They get home and that parts do not match so they bring it back to us certain that it is broken”. I tried to have no expression as I replied ” Wow that’s a whole lot of people”. I then walked back to the video cards section.
I then walk over to the motherboard section and start looking at the motherboards, I mean since I do have an extra Athlon II processor and brand new, non functioning motherboard.
I noticed it was the same thing going on in the motherboard section as the video card section. Tons of stickers (well not as many but quite a few) of returned items with prices being marked down.
while standing there , my favorite motherboard associate was there telling some story about a video game. So I started to tell my story of how games for windows live some add in code to my GTAIV told me that I installed the game to many times and the whole uproar it caused for a week. The dude looked at me odd and walked away. So I finished my video.
Now my big question is : Why are there so many products on the shelves like that? Is it normal for that many products to be returned? could that many people not know much about what they are buying ? Could it be an occasional bad item gets returned then reshelved, and no one wants to buy the returns, so they build up in time? Is it because they have been burned so many time they just figure it’s easier to let the customers test it, if it comes back they finally send it back to manufacturer? Is it cheaper that way instead of sending a truck back once a month like all other companies do ?
I asked Greg from “Greg’s Snippets” and he had a great answer. He suggested that you have to consider the foul customers and the not very knowledgeable, the random dysfunctional parts, display items and items just like the one I stumbled across that was on the shelf and already open. Each of those items have to weighed in as some factors as to why these products are back on the shelf like that. This is a guy who always sees the deep seedy truth about everything he hears and sees, so him giving that response was a bit out of character. but hey it made sense.
15 days ago I was given $150 to upgrade someone’s computer. This computer was very old. pc100 ram. Max of less than 1g capabilities. It only had a 40 gig hard drive and the processor was a Pentium II. I take the $150 and go to fry’s and walk around in circles for an hour as I always do. The frys in Houston Texas off I45 and West Road. It hit me, I cam up with an idea. I put together in my head all of the parts that where on sale and with in a budget I could handle and a good enough upgrade to be near worth the change of parts.So I look at my son who has been on his Intel e2200 processor for 2 years. And I think about my Athlon 5600+. I see that you can buy a gigabyte motherboard and an AMD 440 for $59. Ok that is not bad, not bad at all. Below I see 4 gigs pc 6400. I grab two of the cpus/motherboard packages and the 4 gigs memory. I rush home and yank only $80 out of the pot that I was supposed to use to build this kid’s computer with, I stuff that money in my pocket. I yank my two gigs of memory out of my computer and my 5600+. Throw a triple core Amd 440 and 4 gigs of memory in my machine, chunk my memory and my old processor in one of the new boards, toss it into the kid’s computer and install windows from one of my unused disks. There he is set. I take the other mobo and cpu combo and build a triple core 3.0 gig CPU and 4 gigs memory computer for my son. We all came out with very nice machines for under two hundred bucks.
The kid’s computer is running like a monster. My son’s computer however had gone through a huge series of bsod (Blue Screen of Death) . I go to return the motherboard and processor for his machine and forgot the dang backplate. They sent us back home to get that. We go back up there. A different person was checking us out the next time we get there. They said the box for the cpu did not match. Even though the processor I was returning had the serial code on it, and that serial code matched my receipt. ok I go home and get the box. I get back up there with both boxes. This time I am being checked out by a third person. He now says that the box for the motherboard does not match the serial code on the motherboard. Even though the serial code on the motherboard matched the receipt. 3 trips to that place. This is the last day of the 15 day Warranty. It takes me 30 minutes to get home, 30 minutes to get back. I am standing there in front of the dude and it is 30 minutes before they close. He walks to his manager and explains what has been happening. The manager some skinny dude with a nasty comb over and a suite that is 4 sizes too big for him shrugs and laughs and says I need the right box.
I asked the manager to come talk to me and hear what I have as the situation. I just wanted to see if he would laugh in my face within kicking distance. As soon as he walks up he says ” there is nothing i can do without the right box” . I tell him it is my 3rd trip up there and it would have been helpful if someone would have covered all of this the first time I came up there. I explained that one of the boxes are at some kid’s house and I will not be able to get it back. He grins and stares at me with a “ok figure it out dude” look on his face. I grab my stuff and start to walk out the door. I turn to the guy and very angrily started to say ” this is how you satisfy customers” I have no idea what I was going to say with that. The dude doesn’t care, he is just there to stand in goofy poses and look important. I got half way through saying it and just stopped and walked away.
On the way out of the door, the door guy who is suposed to check your bag and mark your receipts stepped in front of me with his purple highlighter, I looked him in the face and told him to F off. I know it wasn’t his fault. I just didn’t want to have to go through a hokey pokey of explaining that I am walking out of the store with a handful of parts and a receipt that already has a highlighter check on it from the last person who didn’t actually inspect my stuff. I just knew that this time I would be accused of something I didn’t do so I stopped him right there. He replied with a “woaaaah!!!???” . I continued to the car and left for home. I got home 5 minutes before they closed. I would never make it back.
If the lazy bunch had their act together (yeah I know I had the wrong stuff) they could have double checked all that i was walking in and out with to let me know what else I need. they were not helpful at all.
From now on I am buying everything I need from http://www.tigerdirect.com/ They have better deals anyway. You only have to wait a few days though. and I am not one to go around saying that Fry’s sucks, But they really let me down. The biggest tech review site in Houston, and the most common writer here, treated like a nagging 12 year old.
