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Article: A Woman's Primer for Building Her Own Computer

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Laughing Man:
Haha I have to agree. My first PC building experience didn't work out so well. But luckily at the time the reason why I was interested in building a PC was overclocking (the folks at extremeoverclocking) helped me pick out the parts. So they also helped me troubleshoot it. It was from them that I learned alot about the hardware side of computers (and later the software side).

Though I also enjoy learning about things I use often. For example, I've recently got extremely interested in my car (a 94 Toyota Camry from my parents). Asking my dad if I can take care of all the aspects of a car including learning about the engine. Though he doesn't know much about that so I have to ask the Uncles on my mom side (who are mechanics). Just knowing about what I use gives me an oddly happy feeling. I guess also it provides you with a closer mesh of man and machine. As well as lets you fix your own problems.

I would've built my own laptop if I could.

Though for an OS choice you could always try Ubuntu (or rather any flavor of Linux. I just find Ubuntu the easiest). And for most people who don't use their computers for more then the basics. Buying a computer preloaded with Vista and the specs just to run Vista is a bit absurd to me.  When you could probably build (or find a cheap less then 200 dollars) computer. Throw Ubuntu or XP on there and get the same results for email, chat, office, whatever.

mediaguycouk:
I built my first PC about 5 years ago and have enjoyed upgrading parts so that no part is the same as it was when I first bought the thing. From an £85 Antec case to a ATI 1950 graphics card. However I have, in the past month, changed my mind.

My PC is still working, I'm using it now, but I've just spent £850 to buy a new Viglen PC with a 3 year warrentee. The trouble is that every 9 months or so something goes wrong. I've gone through a power supply every year at least and my graphics cards don't seem to last through 3 month hot summer even though that £85 case has more cooling than you can shake a stick at. I even upgraded the graphics fan to an Antec one.

I work as an IT dude in Southampton University. I just can't be arsed to sit at work all day fixing computers to have to come back and sort out mine. I really enjoyed it when it wasn't my day job but when I'm paying out £50 for power supplies I'm just going to pay £30 for (work negotiated) 3 year guarantee.

Build it was fun, and I can do all of the repairs. But I just can't cope with buying the replacement parts, especially when you can't be certain whether the £130 you've just spent on an excellent gaming motherboard was the part that actually broke.

Graham

Carol Haynes:
??? Not sure I understand that last post.

If you buy a motherboard a lot of manufacturers provide a 3 year guarantee (ASUS and MSI certainly do). OK it isn't as convenient as an on-site service contract - but how many people will be using their current set up in 3 years? Lots of components come with warranties too - 5 years on hard discs isn't uncommon, BFG do lifetime warranty on graphics cards, Corsair & Crucial do life time warranties on memory. Not sure about PSUs but I'd guess you can probably get at least 2 years warranty if you shop around.

My first Windows box was bought from Tiny Computers. It had on-site service but in the first year I had to call them out on no fewer than 5 occasions - and the contract made it clear that if I open the box and change anything the warranty is void - so I didn't have  the option of adding memory, changing a graphics card, upgrading a hard disc unless I bought it from them and got them to install it. They also didn't have a data support system so if they couldn't fix something they swapped components until it worked and then ran the 'factory install' disc - not an ideal solution. You couldn't even update the BIOS without invalidating the warranty.

The biggest issue I had with buying a computer was that when I gave up on their on-site maintenance and opened the box it is patently obvious that every component present was the cheapest possible on the market - and also they had supplied an OEM motherboard from MSI which had a modified BIOS so that most of the settings were missing.

Mandork:
It seems like it's definitely a mixed bag of results.  My husband built his own a few years ago, and the only problem he's had is that the graphics card doesn't play as nicely as it could, but it all works.   

I've always wanted to see what I could build from scavenged parts, and/or see what I could get for some small fixed sum.  Kind of like those silly home-improvement-and-decor-on-a-budget shows.  Now, I know pretty much diddly-squat about how to do any of this, so it's a pipe dream at the moment.  But I long to be able to do things like build a computer in a whiskey bottle, or make my own tiny custom portable device.

However, I was just thinking of looking for advice on how to start researching this very thing, so this was a well-timed post!

Bjorn_Bear:
My belief is that currently building your own will cost you more in parts, is MUCH more risky in terms of something going wrong, and puts you in a much more precarious situation should your computer need repair.-mouser (August 01, 2007, 12:41 PM)
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Check out this site http://www.datadocktorn.nu/us_desktop1.php Things you'll need are: Data-grinder, USB-wrenches, card tong, cryptokeys (forged), zip pliers, Defragmagneto, BIOS chisel, CPU lubricant, a weld and a datamachine to modify. ;D


edit by jgpaiva: fixing quote tag

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