
Ask HN: Where do you shop for PCs? - phyller
Where do you shop for PCs? I&#x27;m getting a non-mac for the first time in a while.
======
vinylkey
I build my own.

I use both [https://pcpartpicker.com/](https://pcpartpicker.com/) and
[https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/)
to plan the build and find deals. I tend to stick with Newegg, Amazon, B&H,
and Fry's for getting my parts.

~~~
teej
I second this. After being a all Mac household for 10 years I finally built a
computer for the first time since college. I didn’t want a “gamer” case so I
decided to go with an NCASE M1 Build. After a year I am very happy with it. I
did all of my research and planning with Reddit and pcpartpicker.

[https://imgur.com/o5KmRpn](https://imgur.com/o5KmRpn)

~~~
teirce
I have the same case with a full-sized GPU and it was a headache. Next time
I'll probably build in an mATX case...

------
cr0sh
Something else to consider if you're adventurous:

Dumpster diving.

No, seriously - if you go around various industrial business parks and
whatnot, and don't rile the security guards too much, you'd be surprised at
what you can find - and many times it's just sitting next to the dumpster, not
in it. A lot of companies upgrade their machines, but either don't know what
to do with their old machines, or don't want to take the time or energy
(laziness) to recycle them properly or donate them (paperwork, ya know) - so
to the dumpster they go!

Another option (though you typically have to pay something - but very little)
are sales at hamfests. Find one in your area, spend a few dollars getting in
to the fest, and bring with you a couple hundred bucks and see what you can
buy. It may not net you the latest and greatest hardware, but you might find
something worthwhile on occasion.

That, or you'll walk away with something you never expected to see or purchase
(you'd be surprised at the stuff that shows up at these fests when old hams
clean out their garage). TBH, I think it's an ecosystem of hams selling to
other hams to keep the stuff around because they run out of storage - kinda a
community distributed physical storage system...lol.

~~~
olalonde
Government auctions are also a good place to find deals:
[https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.AdvSearchResultsN...](https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.AdvSearchResultsNew&searchPg=Category&additionalParams=true&sortOption=ad&timing=BySimple&timingType=&category=29)

------
alehul
Just an FYI: Many people are posting about Newegg, which may still have great
prices, but it's important to note that it was bought by a Chinese company and
there's tons of recent threads complaining about issues and a lack of customer
service, and that it feels entirely different now.

~~~
topspin
Confirmed. I've built many machines via Newegg and I definitely won't do this
for the next build. It has turned into something of a clearing house for
scammy looking "sellers" that no one knows anything about. The prices aren't
any better than what you find on Amazon while the shipping costs more.

Shame they ruined it.

------
doubt_me
Ebay.

NVIDIA 2016+, SSD, ASUS, Probably ROG they have other models too. Depending on
the screen size etc. anything from 1k - 1200$ will last a very long time.
Grabbed a year old laptop for 750$ used (Should have waited for the cyber
monday newegg sale)

Friend grabbed an ebay newegg special that was only on their ebay store. Not
an ROG but still amazing for under 1k

~~~
Boothroid
With you on this. I've never bought a new PC, always eBay or self build.

------
enobrev
I'm an Ubuntu user and not much of a gamer (besides the rare splurge on a
steam for linux game) so I tend to be perfectly happy with last-year's tech.

I used to stay very up to date with system specs and prices, but I can't be
bothered anymore. Now I'll generally rely upon "Build Guides", Reddit, and PC
Part Picker.

I built my current desktop about 5 years ago, but the parts inside are about
1-3 years old. To start, I'll generally look up Build Guides from the previous
year, or a couple "Budget Build"s from this year, enter all the parts into PC
Part Picker and then mix and match until I find something that can handle what
I need for under $600.

And then every year or so, I'll fire up the previous year's build guides or
present year's "budget build" and see if there's anything worth upgrading to
without spending too much.

Building your own can be a pain, but the annoyance is short-lived, and it's a
hell of a lot less expensive. Just as well, I like to know what's in the box,
so I can upgrade / tweak it as needed. As my needs change and I find I need my
system to handle disk writes more efficiently, or need more memory, or if it's
too loud, I can take care of all of that myself with a bit of googling and a
couple hundred bucks.

------
adjagu
Online I tend to use Newegg ([https://www.newegg.com](https://www.newegg.com))
and for a physical store I use Micro Center
([http://www.microcenter.com/](http://www.microcenter.com/)).

Edit: I do not purchase pre-built machines. I like to build my own, so where I
shop may not have the best deals for a pre-built pc.

~~~
ct0
Great nostalgia for CompUSA comes over me when walking around a Microcenter.
The one in NJ is 3.5% sales tax too.

~~~
adjagu
CompUSA used to get all my business. After they left the area friends informed
me about Micro Center and it has been my favorite since.

R.I.P CompUSA and RadioShack.

------
nickjj
NewEgg and Amazon. I've been piecing together my own PCs for around 20 years.

The last one I built is a few years old but it's still running like a champ. A
full part list can be found at [https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/the-tools-i-
use#computer-desk...](https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/the-tools-i-use#computer-
desk-and-phone).

------
navidfarhadi
I've been building my own since around 2010. I buy components mainly from
Amazon and Newegg, but I also purchase from Fry's and Best Buy occasionally if
they have something I need in stock and I can price-match online retailers.

I also highly recommend Micro Center. I loved that store but occasionally the
location near me (Santa Clara, CA) closed not too long ago and was replaced by
a Wal-Mart.

The Dell and Lenovo Outlet in the US also have some great deals on refurbished
laptops if you are interested.

------
jakebasile
I'll add to the pile of "I build my own" comments. Haven't bought an off the
shelf PC in decades. If you're using it for gaming it's the way to go. There's
a trade off in time of course and if you don't want to make that trade I'd
suggest one of the bespoke system builders like MainGear et al., but I can't
personally vouch for any of them.

Plenty of help available if you're interested in building your own(feel free
to message me, even).

------
SimonPStevens
I brought my last laptop 2 years ago from PCSpecialist. Good build quality,
very high spec, and still runs beautiful now.

(Mine is rather bulky for a laptop, but I was intentionally looking for
performance over size, they do seem to have other more slimline models
available)

[https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/](https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/)

~~~
gh2k
As someone who self-builds PCs, I second the recommendation for PCSpecialist
for people who aren't planning to do that themselves. I've used them for
laptops at home and our small biz gets all our desktops from them.

Lots of options, good sales, aftersales etc. - Build quality is great.

------
JasonFruit
I've had remarkable luck picking up used small-business servers off
Craigslist. I don't have much need for speedy graphics, so a Lenovo TS-140
with a bunch of memory for $200 was a great deal. That, a Debian USB key, a
cheap mechanical keyboard, and a wide-screen monitor from Goodwill made a
great coding box for me.

------
dboreham
I haven't acquired a new desktop in a long time but I'd build from components
if it were a beefy developer/gaming machine, or buy whatever Costco is selling
this week if it is for a "regular person" to just do email, spreadsheets.

We get most of our laptops from either Costco or Lenovo, sometimes Microsoft.

------
SAI_Peregrinus
Newegg. They have excellent service, and are also socially good due to their
fighting against patent trolls.

------
kevinherron
For home use, build your own.

For business... suck it up, buy a Dell workstation, and let the warranty do
its work if needed.

------
thecolorblue
I usually get refurbished computers directly from Dell or apple. The price is
not the best but I find the process easier. If you have a microcenter around
you I would check out what they have. They do not have their refurbished parts
on their website.

------
jetti
I haven't bought a desktop since 2011 that wasn't a Mac but did buy one laptop
recently. I got my Dell Precision M6800 on Overstock.com. It was only $400 and
is a couple years old but I like it, plus I love the 17.3" screen size!

------
cr0sh
My stuff usually comes from Ebay or Newegg, which have already been mentioned.
But if you want play fast and loose, check this sub-reddit:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/](https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/)

This group is dedicated to finding and getting good deals on hardware, and
sometimes those deals can be insane if you play your cards right.

For instance, a few years ago I managed (using the instructions found on a
thread there) to knock almost $200.00 off the cost of a particular Core i7
CPU. It took some interesting footwork. Basically, at the time you had to get
a particular coupon from someone on Ebay for Staples, then you went to staples
and ordered the CPU (which was on sale there with the coupon), then once you
had it in your cart, they would do a price match via chat with a rep to what
was available at another physical store (Microcenter? can't recall) - there
was a couple of more steps involved, and depending on how you did the steps,
you could get more or less off the price - so you had to play the steps right.
In the end, I didn't get the best deal, but I came really close; it took me a
few hours to do everything "just right", but the CPU at the time was well
worth it; it turned a $300+ CPU into something costing just over $100.00,
beating out even AMD's best mid-range offering at the time (IIRC, AMDs mid-
range at the time was the 8350 or something like that).

I needed the CPU for a build I was doing for a Core V1 case, which is mini-itx
- and AMD didn't make a mobo at the time that supported their better CPUs; you
could only go with Intel. While the Mini-ITX Intel boards were cheap, you paid
thru the nose for a decent CPU - so jumping thru the hoops was well worth it
for me.

So - pick out the hardware you want or need, then see that sub-reddit for any
deals on parts - also be sure to check out their related community sub-
reddits, which can also help you out picking hardware, answering questions,
etc.

One other note: If you're into Macs, consider building your PC hardware to
support a hackintosh build; if you do it right, you can make the build in such
a manner that you can swap out drives or dual-boot between Mac and Windows (or
Linux, or whatever). One of the best resources is this:

[https://www.tonymacx86.com/](https://www.tonymacx86.com/)

Be sure to check out the "buyer's guide" to find out what hardware is best for
supporting a hackintosh on a variety of budgets. A hackintosh isn't for
everyone; they can be flakey at times (and don't expect support from Apple,
either!) - but if you like that kind of adventure, building your machine for
it will generally net you a pretty good general PC while allowing you to do
the hackintosh thing.

------
scarface74
I'm going to go against the grain. I only use my computer for development and
as a Plex Server. I either by Dell's business line or from the Microsoft Store
to avoid bundled crapware.

------
zantana
Went to Microcenter for my last machine. Price was pretty close to what I
could spec out on partpicker for that model, which they raised $100 after I
bought it. :)

------
slowmovintarget
Having very little time to build my own (requires light and noise that would
wake kiddo), I read reviews.

This led me to Velocity Micro. Disclaimer: I'm a gamer.

~~~
dharness
What kind of noise

~~~
slowmovintarget
\- Plastic wrappers around components

\- Sliding metal or clanking of metal on metal when working with the case

\- Slight tapping of screw-driver getting it into tight spots

\- _Shunk_ of cards being seated into slots (depending)

\- Click or snap of fitting other parts together

\- Cursing when I cut myself, though this happens a lot less with modern cases

It also takes an investment of time that's worth the few hundred bucks (to me,
anyhow) extra to pay someone else to do it. I'm still going to have to muck
around with drivers and software anyway, and that takes more time than the
hardware.

I certainly am not saying don't build your own, but I live in an apartment and
it is very inconvenient to assemble when kiddo is asleep, and impossible when
kiddo is awake (maybe when kiddo is a little older).

~~~
dharness
Hmm, I don't know those seem like very quiet noises.

------
danjoc
razerzone.com

If you're a Mac person, Razer is going to push your buttons. Quality aluminum
build. Lightweight. High end. Excellent quality displays. And a group of
haters that will follow you around the web calling you a moron for
suggesting/buying Razer... Just like with Apple :)

~~~
seanmcdirmid
How about noise?

~~~
danjoc
The quietest Razer laptop is probably the Blade Stealth since it doesn't have
a discrete GPU like the Blade and Blade Pro. It's also the lightest and the
one available in gunmetal grey.

------
genocide_throw
Logical Increments and building my own. Blog posts forthcoming -- Amazon,
NewEgg, and NCIX.com.

~~~
patleeman
Just a heads up, NCIX has filed for bankruptcy.

[https://www.anandtech.com/show/12115/ncix-files-for-
bankrupt...](https://www.anandtech.com/show/12115/ncix-files-for-bankruptcy-
after-restructuring-attempts)

~~~
genocide_throw
Thanks for the link, sad to see this happening.

------
pjmlp
I am been into laptop mode for the last 15 years.

Usually it is a Lenovo or Asus model, taken from local stores.

------
matt_the_bass
I’ve been getting HPs at work. Mostly from Newegg or cdw. They’ve been working
great for us.

------
bfuller
microcenter. i like their warranty. pay $20 per year and if nothing goes wrong
i smash the computer and they give me a gift card with the original amount i
spent, all i have to pay is the cost of the new warranty.

------
netrap
Natex, NewEgg, SuperBiiz, PCPartPicker, sometimes eBay.

If you mean pre-built? Dell, I guess.....

------
petecooper
Used: ex-corporate Dell stock via eBay. Unbeatable value, in my experience.

New: build my own.

------
matchmike1313
Either build my own (Newegg.com typically) or Dell.

------
itamarst
Lenovo Outlet, for thinkpads and thinkstations.

------
ShabbosGoy
Newegg or Tigerdirect.

If I’m lazy I go to Frys to buy my parts.

~~~
protomyth
Tigerdirect was sold to [http://www.pcm.com/](http://www.pcm.com/)

------
gwbas1c
Any Apple store in a state without sales tax. I usually have enough
opportunities to cross state lines that it's not too big of a deal.

------
pcunite
Build my own

------
jokestir
System 76

------
tboyd47
eBay and pawn shops.

