The option to start from scratch on an existing
computer can be a very viable one so long as you know or have someone else that knows how to properly set it all back up to run as efficiently as possible and can transfer your pertinent files back over properly. However, this does take considerable time and if you're hiring someone else to do this, it may be cost prohibitive. Here's why: When I have a customer that just wants me to reload everything on their
computer, it takes about 1 hour to back up the entire system (clone onto separate hard drive) then another hour to reinstall the OS (usually
Windows XP which can take a long time to install on older systems) and then another two hours of fine-tuning settings, installing drivers and necessary applications. And finally another hour of transferring data back onto the
computer. In the end that's 5 hours of labor and a total bill for the customer of $200 and they're not really getting anything new for that, just a fresh reinstall. Now, if the
computer is relatively new then $200 is probably a small part of it's total value so it's worth it. However, if the
computer system is six years old, such as the
computer Landdesigns is using here, then most likely it is going to be more cost efficient to use that $200 towards new hardware. New hardware will jump you several generations of technology forward from six years ago as well as offer brand new warranty coverages and fresh hardware.
As stated elsewhere, I always have recommended going custom for a
computer because without any doubt you will get better quality and better performance for the same price if not cheaper than buying anything from the big brands (
Dell, HP, Acer, etc). However, many still wish to purchase from the big brands and if so I just have some very big points for you to consider that can make your experience with them enjoyable or absolutely destroy your opinion of them (like has happened to me.)
First, if you are buying from
Dell or HP be sure that you stick with their Business line of computers. Most of the times the computers in their Consumer (home) line of products are very cheaply built using the slowest components possible. This means that while your new Core i5 system can use the latest in DDR3 memory up to and above 1333mhz speed,
Dell will instead throw in DDR3 1066 with very high timings which will actually slow the rest of the entire system down all to save a couple bucks. Same can be said about the hard drive, offering, "...a staggering 1.5TB of hard drive space" but using a low speed hard drive (5,400rpm vs. the standard 7,200rpm) with a very small cache (8MB vs. the standard 16MB to 32MB) which will GREATLY reduce the entire system's speed. At least recently, I've noticed that the business line of their computers are beginning to utilize better quality and higher performance components.
Second, beware the power supplies! These companies will usually put a very low quality power supply into the
computer that is just barely enough power to run everything in the system. Keep in mind that a power supply will slowly but inevitably lose some of its capacity to output its total wattage and you are facing a point where eventually your power supply will fail because it is not only poor quality but also eventually will not output enough power to run your system. The majority of the older big brand systems that I have looked at have power supply issues for this reason. If a power supply goes bad, it CAN destroy the rest of your system!
Third, sometimes HP and
Dell in particular can be slow adapting newer technologies into their business line. An example is the
Dell Optiplex line where there is still only one line of systems support the Intel Core i5 generation of processors. That means all the rest of their Intel-based platforms are still using the Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad generation platform which is now two generations behind the current industry-leading generation! Why spend big money on a brand new system that's running technology from more than four years ago?
And finally, if you're purchasing a system from any big brand company, limit your upgrade options when you're customizing it online or buying from the store! Here's an example. We recently purchased six
Dell Dimension T1500 for the local library, which were to run a Core i5 processor and 8GB of DDR3 memory. When we were going through the customization options, the cost of upgrading the system from 2GB of memory (the default) to 4GB of memory was $80. The price to upgrade from 4GB to 8GB was $250!!! Now, I can go online to newegg.com and purchase 8GB of the highest quality Corsair or Crucial memory available on the market for less than $100, so why should you have to pay $330 for the same upgrade through
Dell's site for cheaper quality memory? You can see the same thing when you begin upgrading hard drive space or adding hard drives, or when purchasing or upgrading video card options. It is absolutely theft if you begin configuring too many higher customization options directly through
Dell instead of just getting the same thing identical but separate such as through newegg.com and add it yourself. Trust me, you will save a TON!