A proposition for regulars in the greater San Diego area!!

[fleecejohnson]

Hi all,

After availing myself of much community wisdom here with regard to components for an imminent system purchase, I've almost allowed myself to be convinced that building it myself is the way to go. I say almost, because while no particular vendor (Cyberpower/iBuypower, Alienware, et al.) holds much appeal to me, the prospect of letting my easily frustrated and unskilled hands fry a motherboard holds even less appeal. I'm smart and geeky enough to come here to learn, but build a whole system from scratch and have it post on the first try??

Ermmm.

Which got me thinking. I live in San Diego, not Topeka (with all great respect to "Google, Kansas"). What if there's a veteran system builder lurking about these forums who lives across town from me, one who would relish the prospect of helping me build a killer system some Saturday afternoon AND get paid well for their time??!

I could stimulate my local economy (with cash that would otherwise go to Dell or some other sweatshop), supply the Buds and/or buds, learn a lot, reward a helpful member of this community, make a friend, keep Egghead.com going strong, AND build a much better rig than anything Alienware could touch.

Yep, I think it's an all-around ridiculously cool idea, and I don't know why I'm just thinking of it now.

So all that said, I'm not sure what the next step is, other than tossing that out there, and seeing what folks here thought about it. Even if you're not interested yourself, please do chime in with any thoughts, recommendations, referrals, ideas, or snarky dismissals you might have. Thanks for reading!

 

[fleecejohnson]

*Newegg.com, not egghead.com. Wow, does that date me or what??! lol

 

[shortstuff_mt]

As much as I like helping fellow techies, I don't live in California. Sorry.

With that said, building your own computer really isn't hard at all. If you can read a motherboard owners manual and have a little common sense it's really very easy.

 

[tecmo34]

Now if you are willing to pay for travel expenses from Ohio, I might be able to help you out!! :lol:

I agree with shortstuff_mt on it isn't that hard to build a PC yourself. Read the motherboard manual and review my thread below and you should be able to do it on your own and if you run into trouble, check out shortstuff_mt's sticky

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274745-31-step-step-guide-building

 

[JasonAkkerman]

I'd love to help, but being in Houston puts a damper on that idea.

Like shortstuff said, it's not all that hard to just put it together. For the most part all the pieces of a PC only fit together one way, and there is no way to plug the wrong connector into the wrong slot and fry something. The only way to fry something would be to jam a screwdriver somewhere where is obviously should not go.

The only difficult part is making sure you buy all the right pieces. There is lots of help around here that can make sure you get that part of the job done right.

P.S. They never post on the first try. (Well, unless your me that is) =P

 

[fleecejohnson]

Yeah, I've gotten a lot of really great advice on components in another thread (along with many, many folks who assure me that it's a total cinch to DIY). But for a variety of reasons that I don't think are totally insane, I am more inclined to buy an off-the-shelf rig than to spend (realistically) a full weekend breaking my cherry and wondering why my liquid-cooled crossfire setup reports an error but still boots. Next time, for sure, but not this one. I need low stress levels more than I need the $$. I'm a guy who breaks a sweat at the Ikea checkout counter -- and this ain't Ikea.

But I definitely AM geeky (and man) enough to at least want to learn how to do it lol. And I'm not totally incompetent. I'm sure I could do it in an afternoon -- and not be miserable at the mere prospect -- if I had a little knowledgeable on-site help. So this idea strikes me as a potentially really nice middle ground. Maybe someone here agrees (and could use the bucks), so I thought I should find out before pussing out and calling Dell.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Don't bust out the "D" word in this forum! That's like a cuss word around here.

I wish I could be of more assistance, unless you want me to assemble the parts and ship them to you.

 

[coldsleep]

I think it's a great idea, but like everyone else that has commented, I don't live in California. I suspect someone will come along eventually, though.

If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, don't do it yourself. If you don't get any hits here, you could see if there are any local computer stores that will do it for you if you supply the parts. You might also try to slyly convince someone to do it off the clock and let you assist.

 

[fleecejohnson]

Even I can't believe I invoked D*ll and threw down that gauntlet! Just trying to get someone to throw themselves in front of the train before it hits me lol.

And while it would be great if someone here (and local) stumbles upon this -- it's only been a couple hours after all -- I suppose I could hit up my local Fry's. You might laugh, but a few of those guys actually really do know what they're talking about from what I've heard and experienced.

Side note: all of this suddenly reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer wants to start a pizza place where you "make your own pie." That would be really great -- like those Build-a-Bear workshops for kids. I would sign up for that in a HEARTBEAT. Pick your components...got your own workstation...a few hardcore geeks strolling the aisles helping out. Wow. You heard about it here first kids. I'm gonna be RICH.

 

[rodney_ws]

I just think it's funny the OP is offering beer and pot (along with money!) for someone to help him build a rig. Hey, that's definitely better than folks expecting stuff for free.

 

[fleecejohnson]

I just think it's funny the OP is offering beer and pot (along with money!) for someone to help him build a rig. Hey, that's definitely better than folks expecting stuff for free.

Yeah, right?? X-D

I'm kinda surprised I didn't wake up this morning with a gaggle of geeks squawking on my doorstep. lol