Looking for Website to Buy Custom Built Computer

January 10, 2005 1:12 PM

I'm in the market for a new computer, and wanted suggestions on a good website to go through to buy a custom built one. I'm looking for a site that is cheap but has all the latest technology to choose from and will assemble the system for me (no Pricewatch). Google turns out lots of different sites, but I wanted to ask MeFites about their personal experiences.
posted by Malachi Constant to computers & internet (12 comments total)

Find a local no-frills PC shop. Most of them have said custom-building-dealies on their websites. And no shipping!
posted by Jairus at 1:14 PM on January 10, 2005

Malachi, half the sites on Pricewatch will custom-build and assemble a computer for you with parts you select. I bought my first computer in 2001 through a site on Pricewatch, and it was $1000 below retail costs, used exactly the parts I asked for, and was running the moment I unpacked it and plugged it in.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:33 PM on January 10, 2005

I work for a small company and stopped building my own pc's thanks to these guys. They do a good job and are fast and friendly.
posted by AllesKlar at 1:41 PM on January 10, 2005

One of my favorite places is Monarch Computers. They do a great job and have a great tool for putting together what you want.
posted by JudoGno at 1:47 PM on January 10, 2005

Where I work we've gotten all our recent computers from mwave. We select the components we want and they put them together for us.
posted by driveler at 2:03 PM on January 10, 2005

ABS always seems to get good reviews and has reasonable prices.
posted by rtimmel at 2:37 PM on January 10, 2005

Try asking MetaFilter. Much of that discussion is about building your own, but not all.
posted by Nelson at 2:39 PM on January 10, 2005

In the last lab I worked in the Monarch Computer we had did very well. Didn't purchase myself.
posted by grouse at 3:07 PM on January 10, 2005

I'm gonna throw out my ResellerRatings link again. This is a great consumer resource for choosing a company to purchase through online, though biased towards businesses that actually request their customers fill out the reviews.

And the company I selected through them was Envision Computer Solutions which has been great for me through the purchase of a couple systems.
posted by onalark at 3:43 PM on January 10, 2005

If you're in the Metro Boston area (although they ship as well), I'm a fan of PCs For Everyone. Maybe not the cheapest, but I've purchased two computers from them so far and the first one I had for 6 years without a single problem (it's still working, but I just upgraded to a new spiffier one).
posted by FreezBoy at 3:49 PM on January 10, 2005

My new screamer was custom-built to my specs from the folks at Velocity Micro, and I'm more than pleased with the job they did, I'm ecstatic.
posted by WolfDaddy at 5:10 PM on January 10, 2005

I'm going to second rtimmel. I built my own computer last year, after doing weeks of online searching for pre-built custom systems. ABS had lowest cost, and great parts. Although I would put a vote in for making it yourself. You'll save a decent amount, wont have a lot of crappy 'lite-edition' software on your computer when you start, and it's kind of exasperatingly fun.

Whoever you choose, definitely check reseller ratings. There are a lot of poorly run, if not outright scam computer shops out there.
posted by efalk at 10:17 PM on January 10, 2005