jclamor87

I have been working on computers since i was 11 yrs old (21 now) and currently working as an IT.

My Company currently spends a huge amount of money on computers and such. I realized that building a computer would be more cheaper than buying a whole system.

I got to thinking that with my knowledge and resources i could possibly build a computer more powerful for the price of 450$. The 450$ will have the same specs as a 800$ dell computer, 950$ HP computer, 700$ acer computer, and the list goes on.

My question is, if you knew that my 450$ machine(everything is brand new by the way) can provide the quality, reliability, and functionality that a desktop might need, Would you buy the 450$ computer or would you go to the other route that everybody else takes and get a bulk order of computers with maybe 50$ off each?

The Computers i was building ranged from 250$ to 500$, i just thought that a consumer would want to have options depending on his needs.

Due to where i work and lack of social life i dont really have the time to converse with people that has real opinions to the matter. I am currently doing stocks and always looking for great ideas to further my financial status.

any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

aklucsarits

It's really not signficantly cheaper if cheaper at all anymore.

Back in the 1990s, it used to be that you could save hundreds of dollars buying components and assembling your own PC. But today, you can often find Dell or HP PCs at prices that are less than the individual components would cost. And the Dell and the HP come with an OS and a warranty too, whereas the one you assembled in your dining room does not.

Andrew

jclamor87

i think you might have misunderstood me when i say i have the "resources"(no pun intended)

450$ was the total price including
-genuine windows XP or VISTA
-15 inch LCD.
-Intel Motherboard
-Pentium 2 Dual core
-1 gig memory
-200 gig sata hard drive
-microATX tower
-DVD-RW rom
-450 Watt Power Supply
-LED on front with temperature and time

(i didnt really bother to put the details in)


but the 1990's was a good time to build and sell computers.

mwy23

could you provide 24x7 tech support w/ your computers ala HP & Dell? Return policy? If so, then you might have a business...

jclamor87

I would establish all of that once i believe that this is a profitable business.

trainwreck

u cant compete with economies of scale and sourcing power of dell/hp. how much of a profit margin do you expect to maintain per PC unit? 10%? that 10% would need to cover your time + any other expenses incurred. so on a 400 dollar pc you would make 40 bux? is the 40 bux worth your time to find a customer + building labor + capital risked to aquire computer components?

no offense but your idea is like 15 years too late to the game.

mxt_77

I would be very impressed if you could beat Dell's prices for a equivalently-equipped PC and still make enough profit to make this business venture worthwhile. In order to do that, I suspect you'd have to use components that may be substandard, which would come back to bite you when your customers realize that your PCs are not reliable or stable.

Companies like Dell can sell their PCs so cheap because they buy parts in bulk directly from the manufacturers and therefore get a substantial discount on those parts. A company or individual that is buying one, two or even 500 parts at a time is not going to be able to secure that same type of discount on those parts.

cthree

You cannot beat Dell's prices. Period. Call them and ask the how much it would be to buy 500 of them for you company.

jclamor87

i understand your statement since i hold the account for my company, my rebut is in order to get a good discount you would have to buy around 300 computers.

My Idea is for an individual, or a small business, as i have experience with a good friend.

The only reason i even came across the idea was because of an outside client wanted to buy 10 computers for a small business and asked for my help.

I then researched the internet to see the best value per buck, after a few hours i rounded up the numbers. everything was ranging from 4700$ to 7000$. After all the numbers have been shown, he proceeds to tell me that he does not want a computer with low specs but at the same time he is on a budget. Being the good friend i am and possibly a partner for his business i agreed to look for alternative options.

I told him that there is a good chance that we could do it with second hand computers and it would be much cheaper. he never liked the idea of getting used computers, he then states that asus was having a sale of some sort(had a feeling he knew what im capable off)I was able to get 10 motherboards for less than 1000$ (brand new motherboards), not to mention that each motherboard can be bundled up with a 2.2ghz pentium dual core and a 1gig DDR2 stick. seems reasonable enough in my opinion. After accomplishing the main problems i shopped around for some ATX cases. the more i researched the cheaper it got. then i found a place where they make it in DC(20 miles away from my home). got 10 cases for 75$ with a few more $ I added a 450 watts power supply and a DVD-RW rom, for an extra couple of $ $ i got those things that lets you know the temperature and etc.

the only thing left is the hard drive, which i purchased easily over the internet along with 10 windows xp Pro.

all in all we spent about 3200$(the extra memory was a bit expensive) on all the machines and they work great, its been a couple of weeks and there has been minimal to no issues at all. although I do maintain them using remote control.

I spent two weeks on this project, but only because some of the parts took longer to ship than i thought.

Penforhire

mwy, caught the big point. We have great service from Dell. Not to mention a substantial discount because of our volume. If I want a Dell for myself I can order through my company and get the same discount.

And all that is besides the point. Making PC's is not a high-margin business. I wouldn't invest in that niche.