Did you assemble your own PC or bought it assembled or as package already?

@gicarlo (131)
Philippines
June 29, 2008 11:09am CST
Do you know how to assemble a PC? Did you assemble yours? Or just bought it assembled already? Is there any advantage or disadvantage in assembling or not assembling? I am an IT student but i didn't assembled mine. Though I wanted to before. I bought this assembled already. It's a package deal. The advantage of not assembling is the package deals are very affordable depending on the specs it offers. Buying the hardware per piece is sometimes more expensive. What do you think?
6 people like this
22 responses
@alexigne (903)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
tester - electricity
Yeah it is expensive and it all depend on the store. Often times it is but it all depends on how to close the deal. But as an IT student, you should explore your knowledge on fixing your own computer and sometimes, you may experience trouble and ofcourse knowing how to handle those troubles. I am an IT student also and curiosity in computer is on the top level. Honestly, i also damage different parts of it like motherboard, powersupply and memory. The good thing is i learn because i have no formal study in PC troubleshooting and assembly. I explore it by my own and learn. Now i am owning an internet cafe and hands on in technical issues and maintenance. But still you should know how to fix your own problem and also accept the financial issues as part of computer is quite expensive. By the way i start on surplus computer as Pentium MMX is 17,000 when we first bought and now you can buy 15,000 with dual core and less
1 person likes this
@gicarlo (131)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
ahehe. I do know how to do those. Especially when fixing computers of my classmates. But, i really just don't want to assemble my own and buy package deals instead hehehe ^_^
@alexigne (903)
• Philippines
1 Jul 08
Wow that was great for you, coz there are students who just come and go inside the class and don't know how t fix their own computer. I admire students like you.
@Muelitz (1592)
• Canada
29 Jun 08
All in all I have had 3 desktop PC's, The first and the last one I bought as a complete set. The second, I did assemble myself. It was fun doing it yourself. It is cheaper doing it this way. You also can choose what brand and type you like. But when you don't have the time to do it you will have to buy it as a package. Another caveat, you have to make sure parts are compatible. Parts like motherboard, processor and RAM must be compatible with each other. Other parts such as Hard Disk and CD Roms are normally plug and play and would work on all models.:)
@gicarlo (131)
• Philippines
29 Jun 08
Is it really cheaper? Well, what's good in packages is that there are always promos like with free printers etc. ^_^
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
1 Jul 08
It's not always cheaper. If you just want a machine for web browsing, email, word processing type stuff, it's cheaper to buy a branded PC. If you want a serious gaming machine, you'll save money building it yourself.
@DarkDancer (1011)
• Dayton, Ohio
1 Jul 08
I build them myself. I prefer it that way. I like to know all the parts that go into my computer and there is no better way to know that than to put them in yourself. Building it myself was also the cheapest way to go for what I wanted.
@risris24 (712)
• United States
29 Jun 08
Currently, I have a laptop which i obviously didn't need to assemble, but when I purchased my desktop computer it was in whole pieces but needed to have al the wires connected from one piece of hardware to the next. I f you mean it came in pieces and had to be assembled from scratch, then no. Why would someone want to go through all of that with a brand new computer when they generaly come put together already? I guess if you build computers then maybe you wouldn't mind.
@gicarlo (131)
• Philippines
29 Jun 08
well, you got a point there. Especially if you have no knowledge on assembling computers. It's time consuming indeed.
@jessej9 (394)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
Packaged desktop is good, but I prefer to assembled because i can customize the desktop to whatever use i would want it. But unfortunately, my desktop is a packaged desktop. Well still it's good, but I want more. Computers really need to be upgraded every now and then so it's better to have a pc suited for you long-lasting needs.
@gicarlo (131)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
ya. maybe you should build computers that is compatible for the future releases. Well, that is, if possible hahahaha!
@intense (41)
1 Jul 08
When i was a kid my dad would custom make my pcs with his own hardware but now we just buy the packaged desktops because buying the parts separately is more expensive. I don't really know if my old homemade desktop has any advantages because it's old so it wouldn't be fair to compare it to new xp/vista desktops xD
• United States
30 Jun 08
I am not that computer savy so I bought mine already put together. Of course I had to hook up the stuff like printer and keyboard but all the hardware wa already done.
@subha12 (18441)
• India
30 Jun 08
I bought it assembled. i do not have so much hardware knowledge so that i can assemble it myself. rather it was assembled by the person who sold it. its working fine.
@SheliaLee (2736)
• United States
30 Jun 08
We have bought three PCs over the years and they have already been assembled when we purchased them. My husband and I are not technically able to put things together ourselves so we always have to get it done for us LOL!!
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
We bought our PC from a computer shop but, all parts where individually pruchased and then built on the spot infront of us. We'd always ask for what was the best they had that would compliment the set up and they would offer us choices in regards to capability as well as the price range. We would often opt for performance of each part. I guess you just tend to know a lot better when each part is purchased compared with package deals that would only be known through the promos that computer shops give out. Then again, its inevitable the you'd know each part when you begin to upgrade you computer hardware as time moves along..
• United States
30 Jun 08
Hi there gicarlo, I did not assemble mine myself,thoguh i did have someone else asemble it. i paid 50 dollars for mine. and my computer here has been working well ive had it about 3 years now. mine didnt come with all the parts and he put it together the built it from other parts of junk computers. the only thing i do not have on here is sound. and when i first got my computer it did have sound.. I would SO much rather have a packaged deal, not only because of sound wich i had.but when somthing goes wrong i cant just call the manufactuer.lol i have to depend on people who know bits and peices about computers. and when i buy parts for it. its like just praying it works. cause i have no idea if it will work or not so yes, i do wish i had a package deal:)
@biobio55 (281)
• Indonesia
30 Jun 08
I never assembled any computer before. I used to have a PC but I didn't assemble it. I bought it from Dell and I ordered it with custom specs. But I never open the case or change the part at all. I don't have any clue about computer parts. Now, I own a laptop which is almost impossible to assemble it by myself. So, I haven't assembled any computer in my life and I don't think I will in the future. It is just too complicated for me.
@profitsg (90)
• Singapore
30 Jun 08
Bought as package. Easier to use because the basic softwares are already there. Easy to reformat as well. No need shop either
@ptscam (138)
• Portugal
1 Jul 08
I assemble my own pc with custom parts that i purchase for different purposes. This way i can get a better service/parts/work on my own pc! Not that i don't trust the people working on the store, but just because i know how to handle those parts and i can assemble a pc without problems. Also i can sometimes get cheaper prices by doing that if i remove useless parts that i don't require. And the best thing is.. when things go to the wrong side... i don't have any surprise when i open the pc... missing parts, or wires all crossed up and other stuff like that. So my advice if you have the skills just do it your self, if not, you can still select what parts you want and ask for them to be used. If you don't know a THING about pc's.. well just don't go to the first person you remember that uses PC's.. because sometimes you will get wrong ideas or impressions and you can buy stuff that you don't need.
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
30 Jun 08
When I got my first computer in 1999, I did have to assemble it myself. It arrived in a white box with spots on it. :-) Luckily, my niece was visiting me that day and she helped figure out how to put the purple wire into the purple hole and the orange into the orange. LOL It didn't work, though, and when I called the tech people, they had to walk me through uninstalling and reinstalling a few things. Grrr. Back in March, I got a reconditioned computer. When I got it home, my hubby and son put it together.
• United States
29 Jun 08
I have a MacBook laptop. I bought it fully assembled for the price and convenience. I just ordered additional RAM by mail order to upgrade the memory.
@muxicka (215)
• Philippines
30 Jun 08
I have assembled my current pc. Like what you have said, there are pros and cons of assembling a pc then buying a whole package. When you assemble a pc, you always have an option whether your making your pc suite for gaming, for chatting, or for working matters. If your apt for gaming, you would much likely pumped up your video card and your processor. Things like that. But sometimes it's also better to buy a whole package, since it would save you the money and also if you lack the knowledge in buying the specified parts for your pc, it would also save you the trouble.
• United States
29 Jun 08
i bought mines all packaged together. i am not a good assembler and i would be worried that if didnt place the smallest piece correctly that io would mess up the entire computer. but i have heard that when you put it together yourself it is cheaper.
@calajane (1003)
• Poland
30 Jun 08
Both my PC and my laptop have been assembled by somebody esle. I just am in it for the finished product. Now I don't know enough about hardware to actually attempt putting a PC back together and I'm too affraid I will break something. So I just let the experts handle it. But I'm more of a fan of getting computers assembled and then maybe upgrading them after some time.
• Indonesia
29 Jun 08
i always assembled by myself. i think is reasonable to alot save my money.