[thelist] OT--ABS Computers?

Jonathan_A_McPherson at rl.gov Jonathan_A_McPherson at rl.gov
Tue Jun 25 12:15:07 CDT 2002


I have a Dell at home, a Dell at work, and just ordered a Dell laptop. (-: I
have been very pleased with them.

In my opinion, however, a PC is as good as its parts. I looked at the ABS
computer Web site, and it appears that you get to pick out virtually all
your components (even the motherboard! Cool!). This means that ABS isn't
cutting costs by throwing cheap, unreliable circuits onto a second-hand
board. They tell you exactly what they are putting into your case. This
means you can do Web/usenet searches and see what others think of the parts.
It looks like ABS uses mostly good quality brand-name stuff.

The advantages of buying from Dell/other major company are mostly
(a) a reasonable assurance that your PC will work happily out of the box
(b) good tech/hardware support and warranties

This is why many major companies (mine, Lockheed Martin, included) buy from
Dell and other major retailers -- they have some level of assurance they
will work properly, and someone to yell at if they don't.

The advantages of buying from smaller companies include:
(a) lower cost
(b) (in this case) greater customizability
(c) you know more about what you're getting

I'd say that if you have a computer hobby, you know enough about hardware
parts to pick good ones, and you're knowledgeable enough to fix stuff when
it goes wrong, save yourself some cash and get an ABS.

If you are just use the computer as a tool, you just want to plug it in and
have it work, and have someone to call if it doesn't, get a Dell, a Micron,
or whatever.

You will get nightmare stories about any product/vendor (I've read dozens on
Dell). Just know which to listen to.

My $0.02.

--
Jonathan McPherson, LMIT/SD&I
Software Engineer & Web Systems Analyst
email / jonathan_a_mcpherson at rl dot gov



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Dell'Aringa [mailto:pixelmech at yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 8:39 AM
To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: Re: [thelist] OT--ABS Computers?


Gina, unless you are severely strapped for cash, I would put Dell on the top
of my list. The old
adage "you get what you pay for" can really haunt you with PCs. Saving 200
bucks rarely is worth
the trouble down the line.

Good Luck

Tom
--- "Gina K. Anderson" <gina at sitediva.com> wrote:
> Hi gang,
>
> I'm researching my next PC purchase, and I'm interested in ABS Computers
> (http://www.buyabs.com). Has anyone got one of these machines, how's your
> experience w/ support, reliability, etc? Please email me off list
> (gina at sitediva.com).
>
> I'd appreciate any helpful links on looking up these stats on computer
makers as
> well. I've been all over the place, including searching newsgroups via
> Google--and I can't seem to find much on them. I've tried PCWorld and such
as
> well.
>
> Thanks,
> Gina



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