Make or Buy

As a show of confidence we have decided to continue our commitment to small businesses around the world. The decision to make or buy is always important. Therefore we have created another short list detailing costs associated with building your own desktops versus buying desktops.

Clearly building your own desktop machine makes customization easier. However companies like Dell facilitate customization of major components.
Well, let’s compare and contrast to see what we come up with. The machine we will be looking at will be built for general computing and small business applications.

We use Microcenter and Newegg for parts.

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition ATX Mid Tower Case
SKU: 497818
Buy new: $44.99 $37.99
after rebate savings: $27.99
Pioneer 22x Internal Dual/Double Layer PATA DVD/CD Writer with LabelFlash - Black
SKU: 261297
1 new in stock: $39.99

Biostar A770E3 AM3 AMD 770 ATX Motherboard
SKU: 102772
6 new in stock: $59.99 $54.99
after rebate savings: $44.99

Intel Celeron E3400 2.6GHz Socket 775 Boxed Dual Core Processor
SKU: 110098
10 new in stock: $49.99 $39.99

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive WDBAAY0020HNC
SKU: 994350
10+ new in stock: $119.99 $89.99

Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Desktop Memory Module
SKU: 897579
10+ new in stock: $69.99 $52.99
after rebate savings: $42.99

PNY VCG62512SAPB GeForce 6200 512MB DDR2 AGP Graphics Card
SKU: 867176
4 new in stock: $64.99 $49.99

SIIG SoundWave 7.1 PCI Sound Card
SKU: 914549
2 new in stock: $29.99
after rebate savings: $24.99

Gear Head Wireless Keyboard, Optical Mouse & Receiver
SKU: 335273
10+ new in stock: $24.99
I-INC IP191ABB 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor
SKU: 283481
10+ new in stock: $129.99 $89.99

500 before taxes!!!

DELL’S comparable computer is normally 720.00 on sale at 399.00 before taxes
48 hour sale! Okay hurry up and get it!!!
Reliable, expandable solution for small business??? I’m not so sure about the cost…
Starting Price $720.00
Total Savings $321.00
Dell Price $399.00

The Verdict

Based on this simple comparison and contrast I have determined that it is less expensive for small businesses to make their own desktops. No doubt, Dell makes a quality product. When compared to Apple and Lenovo (IBM) Dell is the most cost efficient. That’s why we chose Dell.

They offer a one year warranty for their machines. We will get between one and three years warranty on each of our computer components. Our hard drive will be one terabyte much larger than the dell hard drive. Both processors are dual core; however we have better random access memory on our machine. The remaining components are very similar in form factor and performance. Keep in mind the Dell machine t time is on sale until 4/9/2011. At that time the price will return to $720.00. Furthermore Dell’s customized machines get expensive quickly. You can easy top $1000.00 for desktop by adding common upgrades.



Now we have no excuses. We will make our own machines.