Ahnya Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 well i only bought prebuilt till about a year ago..... i never knew how to put one together. if i had to get a prebuilt again, i'd have it specially ordered. i'm thinking of opening up a repair biz outta my house. i know what i'm doing, and there's really only one place in town that can do this stuff. but how to go about doing it? bigred can maybe give some pointers. either pm me or email me... if ya wanna email me i can give me address, just lemme know. i'm disabled. i can't drive and go to work, so working from home is a good idea for me. i know so much about computers it's sick. put it to use i say. i can get any part in the market, and put it together and get it to work. most home bulds that need repair, yes, were put together by idiots. like the one that doesn't plug in his hard drive power, and wonders why he can't install windows. idiot. most of it is ppl that buy incompatible parts. i had a friend buy a cpu, mobo, ram, stuff like that, but the hsf was for a amd 64 and the cpu was a socket a. that ain't gonna fit, idiot! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamikaze_Badger Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 According to Red, opening up a PC store is alot harder than it sounds. I would recommend just building computers for people, sneaking in $100 profit in on them. Spyware and adware, according to red, are some of the most annoying things ever to be dealt with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asus Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 we get so many custom ones because people are STUPID. most of them are idiots who screwed the motherboard to the case without standoffs, can't figure out how to set jumpers, do things like not install the cpu or ram, forget to plug in the 4 pin power connector, don't hook up the front pannel power switch, and other stupid stuff like that. those are the rigs that are either 15 min of work or 15 hours of work. we also have a large number of people who suffer from iboughtthisat neweggus n foockeditup syndrom. they're FREE money cuz there's always broken parts or missing parts, or wrong parts in those plus the labor. but then you must remember there are doctors that do brain surgery that prob could not turn on a computer.. it all depends on how your brain is wired.. <_< Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverfox Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 pre-builts don't suck. they usually extensively test all the components to get optimal setups, and fast smooth running machines - whereas we would just buy the coolest bits and sling 'em together. that is unless you buy a tiny, pcworld, time, gateway2000, advent, evesham(though theyre getting better) and some more... i worked for evesham - at least if a machine went wrong, it gets fixed inside 7 days - i used to fix them in the shops to save the tech support guys. evesham machines are suprisingly decent lego....you should use a few! their fx-53 was quite good apart from the price only flaw: laptops....eeewwww.... just because there are more customs in for repair doesnt mean that they are worse. more and more people are building theit own than ever before because they know that parts are cheaper. plus, being custom means that a small retailer could've built it locally. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigred Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 it's NOT an easy thing to do on this level. I have anywhere between $250k and $400k of MY money tied up in stock (this is for a store). within the next 2 weeks I plan to have it upto $750k for the holidays! I have taxes, CC card company payments, franchise fees, electricity, water, heat, internet, phones, landlord, employees (5 of them starting @ $25k a year), thier insurance, 80+ hour work weeks, annoying assed customers (though it's a small percentage they give them ALL a bad rap), over $20k in equipment for business (computers, server, fax, security cameras, registers, desks, shelving, paper, tools, test parts in the lab ect). It litterally took me 7 months to break even on my investment. and for 3 more after that I struggled to stay out of the red on it. 1 YEAR after I got going I'm finally comfortable with everything and can say I have no real fear (heck I drove compusa out of the neighborhood!). and the job doesn't end when I shut off the open sign on the doors here. I have to spend my time and energy learning more, doing my paperwork, ordering parts, getting into it with vendors, dealing with the franchise crap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverfox Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 lesson one: don't start an IT business (jk) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnuckleHead Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 I shall never own a Gateway. *shudder* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazwegion Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 My first computer I ever bought (new) was a custom built job, from a local retail outlet... though they used quality bits (Epox/AMD/Seagate/Legend)... if I knew then, what I've learnt now, I could've kept half of that wad of cash I spent $2,000.00 AUD (1996) But on the otherhand, my moms comp had a faulty mem stick, so its down to 128mb and its a 500mhz p3. Its not cutting it. She is just suffering with crappy load times bc frikken pc-100 or pc-133 sdram is too expensive! Hey Byron PC-100/133 isn't expensive, unless you buy it new... check out eBay and your local PC market Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 Yea, i've checked out the local comp shops around here and they are seriously 3 years behind. They dont carry pc-2700 or higher at the actual comp shops here! the only place I can find that or better is circuit city. I've checked out ebay, and my mom prefers to stay away from it. so I think I can get her some pc-100 256mb for around $40 off of newegg. tazwegion, just wondering, but how many rigs do you have folding, bc your last submition for few days was around 500pts :-P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectrascope Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 I was just looking over service orders for the last 2 months. 91 gateways in for service, 71 of them with hardware problems. 44 motherboards, 17 power supplies, 104 sticks of ram (yeah some of them had more than 1 bad stick of ram) replaced. how in GOD'S name did gateway last so long? I can vouch for this BigRed! I worked at Gateway in Salt Lake City Utah a while back as a QC tech. Let me tell you guys what they do........ Gateway basically hires the cheapest possible labor they can find(I'm talking like $6.00 per hour)and they give them a 2 day training course on how to put a PC together as fast as they possibly can. They split that up into 3 stations and form a manufacturing line, and all three persons have certain parts of the PC they must assemble. There is no ESD protection, none of them know what they are doing, they simply have memorized where to screw something in. Now here is the worst part........While they are trying to do this they have a Supervisor standing over their shoulder practically screaming at them to go faster and faster so that he can increase his own teams production and get a bonus. This makes the workers nervous and they usually start missing the screws and hitting the motherboard among other things with the power screwdriver. Then they would have us boot them one time and hurray and ship it. Even if we knew there was going to be other problems, they just want to get them out the door to the customer. I actually felt guilty working there sometimes, I mean people were spending hard earned money and receiving pure crap that wasn't even tested properly. It was the worst work environment I have ever seen and made me really wonder what the rest of the big names(Ibm,Dell,HP) have going on in their plants. NEVER BUY A GATEWAY! every freaking machine I repair is some lmao pre-built piece of crap or a whitebox built with similar parts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahnya Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 hahahaha that could be a pain red. i might just build em for ppl and if they need a repair i can charge. i have my ways of getting rid of viruses and spyware. it involves googling every running process and registry value if it looks malicious or suspicious. hell half the time, my adware and spyware and virus software doesnt find the stuff. if it's doing something weird, i hit the task manager and registry. if you know what you're doing, it gets easier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigred Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 (edited) freelance is just as bad. did that for 4 years on the side. thank GOD I don't have to answer the phone when the OPEN sign is off. cuz they call all the time, it's always "I have a question" or "it's doing it again" (usually spyware), or "I didn't do anything now it's.....". you end up becoming tech support for EVERYTHING. at least with a store I can tell em flat out, I have a business to run, and it includes waiting on everyone and you can not take up all my time. check it in, it's $x and that's that. BTW my resume in computer tech work pretty much speaks for my abilities to fix just about anything out there. 7 yrs Berkley schools, hardware specialist / network admin (starting at 13yrs of age) 2 yrs CompUSA, tech manager 1 yr Microsoft, driver verification services (we bring you WHQL) 1 yr running my own computer store 4 yrs running an offsite storage business (servers) MCSE+I, CCNE, CNE, A+, MAC+, Net+, MOUS, HP/Compaq desktop, laptop and server, Sony desktop and laptop, Toshiba notebook, Dell desktop, laptop, and server, HP laser and inkjet, Epson inkjet, gateway desktop, laptop, and server, emachines desktop and laptop. 3 years worth of credits in CIS from Oakland Community College (completed in 8 days) Oh yeah, and I just turned 24 last month Edited October 26, 2004 by bigred Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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