(no subject)
bandicoot, here's Erik's answer to your question.
I need a new computer. I've built all my previous ones, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to use. I hate to buy any complete computers from the "name brands", as it seems to me that they cut corners to reduce costs at the expense of a long life (in computer years, of course :) Did Erik have any specific recommendations?
Best name brands change over time. I did a lot of comparing online recommendations to try to winnow out the sites that only recommend what they sell, then went with one of the general consensus top gaming systems. I will say that I'm a bit biased against "gaming" rigs, as they tend to value performance over reliability, but I chose a specialist builder with a long history (Cyberpower) and I'm just hoping the quality hasn't suddenly fallen. Otherwise, just tons of anecdotes masquerading as data: Qat had issues with liquid cooling in her Origin multiple times, and I've heard many complaints about Alienware since Dell bought them. HP has been dicey ever since they merged with Compaq. On the other hand, Dell is corporate and boring, but generally reliable... if you stay away from the bottom of the range.
And "stay away from the bottom of the range" is general. The reality is that any computer sold under about $600 is being made on razor thin margins, and they will absolutely cut corners wherever they can. As long as it reaches the end of the factory warranty period, they win. If you look on the cheap end, do extra research and be very granular on time - quality comes and goes in waves on the bottom end, depending on all sorts of strange tech corner cases as well as just people in the factories. With no cost margin, there's no margin for quality variance, so if a new WiFi chip is giving issues, or if their top solder tech just left, you can get a bad quality streak on a model year. Higher cost systems get tested & rejected as a cost of business, and anything designed to be sold to businesses has to be designed to be reliable, or service costs will eat them alive. But cheap systems, especially from no-names on Amazon, get a minimal fix to get it up & running then often shipped with the hope that you'll give up on the bad warranty service. It's still true that variance works both ways, and if you're lucky a cheap system can be a workhorse for years. Just don't expect that.
And clean the dang fans and don't block the airflow. :) Number one cause of long-term computer failure.
Best name brands change over time. I did a lot of comparing online recommendations to try to winnow out the sites that only recommend what they sell, then went with one of the general consensus top gaming systems. I will say that I'm a bit biased against "gaming" rigs, as they tend to value performance over reliability, but I chose a specialist builder with a long history (Cyberpower) and I'm just hoping the quality hasn't suddenly fallen. Otherwise, just tons of anecdotes masquerading as data: Qat had issues with liquid cooling in her Origin multiple times, and I've heard many complaints about Alienware since Dell bought them. HP has been dicey ever since they merged with Compaq. On the other hand, Dell is corporate and boring, but generally reliable... if you stay away from the bottom of the range.
And "stay away from the bottom of the range" is general. The reality is that any computer sold under about $600 is being made on razor thin margins, and they will absolutely cut corners wherever they can. As long as it reaches the end of the factory warranty period, they win. If you look on the cheap end, do extra research and be very granular on time - quality comes and goes in waves on the bottom end, depending on all sorts of strange tech corner cases as well as just people in the factories. With no cost margin, there's no margin for quality variance, so if a new WiFi chip is giving issues, or if their top solder tech just left, you can get a bad quality streak on a model year. Higher cost systems get tested & rejected as a cost of business, and anything designed to be sold to businesses has to be designed to be reliable, or service costs will eat them alive. But cheap systems, especially from no-names on Amazon, get a minimal fix to get it up & running then often shipped with the hope that you'll give up on the bad warranty service. It's still true that variance works both ways, and if you're lucky a cheap system can be a workhorse for years. Just don't expect that.
And clean the dang fans and don't block the airflow. :) Number one cause of long-term computer failure.