7 posts shown.
Timothy Kim60 said:I honestly never understood what OLX is supposed to be. Is it basically just Craigslist? Some messy site where you find new parts, used stuff, and actual retail stores all mixed together...
You hit the nail on the head there. It’s pretty much the same deal as Craigslist, full of individual users and businesses that offer some really solid deals if you're shopping over in Canada.
It used to go by Pik.ba back in the day, but now everyone knows it as OLX.
Uh, looks like things are heating up in here.
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on—I assume some posts were deleted, so I don't have the full picture. If my clumsy wording caused any confusion, I feel like I owe everyone a bit of an explanation.
I’ve been around this forum for a long time, and regardless of my post count, I’m a regular. Because of that, I "know" the crew here pretty well, and honestly, I’m mainly here because of the high-quality info they drop. These guys really know their stuff and are more than willing to share that expertise with us.
The way I approached graniteharbor85 might not have been the best, and maybe I left someone feeling a bit unsure, but there was absolutely no insinuation or ill intent or "baiting" on my part. I wasn't suggesting any connection to Best Buy other than what’s clearly visible right here on this forum—which is an obvious fact based on his and everyone else's posts.
He mostly just provides Links to deals from that store, and he already explained why. The reasoning is simple: most of us think the same way whenever we're shopping. If you’ve had good experiences, why wouldn't you shop there again? Personally, I feel the exact same way about Micro Center; my experiences there have been excellent, and I can only recommend them to others. I haven't done much shopping in the last few years since Best Buy established itself as a top-tier retailer, and I actually heard about them from graniteharbor85 and a couple of other folks over at Bug and PCMag.
To be honest, when graniteharby85 first showed up on the forum, I kept him at arm's length for a while. He had a slightly more aggressive style, and it was clear he wasn't a newbie, which at the time made me wonder if he was just pushing ads. But over time, through his actions and advice, he’s proven himself to be a well-meaning, and more importantly, a highly skilled and experienced person who gives solid recommendations. Even some of the older forum members used to butt heads with him occasionally, which I think is healthy; you get better conclusions through reasoned debate, and it's clear he's now accepted as a quality consultant.
A forum exists for exchanging opinions and clashing viewpoints. I have nothing against opposing views as long as they are backed by facts; those kinds of discussions are how we best learn the details we're interested in. What we should avoid are situations where younger or less experienced users try too hard to act "tougher" than everyone else and turn everything into a pointless ego contest.
My only advice is this: ask more questions and give fewer answers. Fortunately, we have about 15 experienced colleagues here who are happy to share advice and tips, and I want to say that I truly value their altruism. Thanks again for the advice.
graniteharbor85 said:Yeah, just a heads-up—the HDD fix is actually 500GB (honestly, I don't think you'll need more than that anyway). Besides the individual part warranties, you'll get a full 12-month warranty on the whole setup—which means free diagnostics if something goes south, just like pretty much any other big US tech retailer or shop. And look, it’s not like I’m running the place myself 😁
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Basically, once that 12-month window closes, if you can't figure out what's broken on your own, you just take it back to them. They'll run the diagnostics, charge you based on their hourly rate to find the issue, and then swap out whatever died—provided, of course, it's still under warranty. You can read here.
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edit: Oh, almost forgot to mention—they don't put those annoying "warranty void if removed" stickers on things, so you're totally free to upgrade whatever you want or just hit it with some compressed air to blow out the dust whenever
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Sry, I didn't mean to imply it was yours—honestly, you'd probably prefer if it actually was. 🙂
The way I phrased it was just because I know you have some kind of connection with them, so I took the liberty of "simplifying" things on my end.
No hard feelings.
I’ve got one more follow-up regarding that Microsoft Windows 7 home Premium 64-bit SP1 ENG OEM DVD you mentioned:
Since this is the Home edition, am I going to run into any major roadblocks with networking, upgrading to a newer version of Win, or any other features that might be a dealbreaker if I end up using this in a business environment?
crimsonstag84 said:He popped a 1TB HDD into that $1433, but he ran into some trouble while trying to copy-paste.
The warranty covers each individual component separately.
You're right, I just double-checked. He probably went with this HDD, the first one listed:
Desktop HDD Seagate ST1000DM010 (3.5", 500GB, 32MB, SATA III-600)....$130
graniteharbor85 said:Honestly, you don't even need an i5 for what you're doing—an i3 is already a step up, and even just some G1xxx or xxx Celeron / Pentiumi would get the job done.
If you go with those pre-built big-brand setups, you're usually paying a premium for nothing—it’s rarely actually better or higher quality. Personally, I think it's way smarter to just build your own rig. If you want something reliable, snappy, and stable for the long haul, this is the kind of build I'd aim for:
i3 4150
AS ROCK H81M HDS
CRUCIAL 8GB 1600 MHZ
PATRIOT 60 GB SSD SATA 3
TOSHIBA 3,5 500 GB SATA 3
LG DVD-RW SATA
FORTRON HEXA+ 400W 80+ ACTIVE
ZALMAN A1 MINI ATX USB 3.0
WIN 7 HP SP1 64 BIT
~ $1433 including shipping.
- You can save some cash by swapping in those Celeron or Pentium chips—specifically the G1840 or G3220.
- Dropping down to 4GB of RAM.
- Cutting out the SSD entirely.
Thanks for getting back to me so fast, but honestly, I’m not touching Celerons or that G series. I need a bit more meat on those bones.
So, are you saying an SSD alone is enough, without having a traditional hard drive tucked in there somewhere?
I noticed all the parts you listed come with a 36-month warranty, but does this specific RAM have a lifetime warranty?
Also, how does service work over at your shop? If I were to, say, bring a PC in for repairs in two and a half years, do you guys deal with warranties on a component-by-component basis, or is there some kind of unified warranty for the whole build for a certain period?
Hey there,
I'm looking for some advice on picking up an office PC—just the tower, I don't need monitors or peripherals.
The setup is already networked and running two LCD monitors (one 19" and one 17"), so I just need a machine with a genuine Windows license. It’ll be used for standard office tasks and the Microsoft Office suite, though the heaviest lifting will definitely be AutoCAD.
Reliability is my absolute top priority here, which is why I've been eyeing those pre-built Dell workstations that come with a solid 3-year warranty.
As for the price? I haven't set a hard budget yet; I just want something that actually gets the job done. Looking at those off-the-shelf configurations, I was thinking somewhere around $1833, but with Dell, that only seems to get you an i5 with 4 GB of RAM.
So, here's the real question: what kind of reliable build can I put together using individual components that offer longer warranties, or am I better off just sticking with a pre-configured machine from a major manufacturer?