I've never bought from this vendor but i know several of you here really like them. What is the deal on their refurb parts and how reliable are they? In particular, i'm a little hesitant to do a "refurb" deal on an important part like a motherboard.

Secondly, can anyone explain what the red text in the following screenshot means? "OEM, Barebones" TIA.

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

It means its just the board.. no cables, manual, etc. Might want to make sure it uses the same I/O cover that you currently have, otherwise you'll be cutting holes in your current one.

Thanks Mike, it's not for me. It's a new system i'm about to build for a good friend of mine. I still have not decided on the case but that's the least of my concerns as i'm trying to start at the beginning and settle on a good MB and CPU combination.

The fact that this MB has an on-board NIC is very good as she is on a rather tight budget. If i get this MB it will save me from having to buy a NIC for her.

Damn i was chompin at the bits to have my first try at building a new PC for her but then i found this deal earlier. I feel compelled to atleast tell her about it so she can decide between thsi deal or having me build one for her.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741769749&category=38114

All she would have to do is pay for shipping ($80-$100) and buy a monitor ($150) which would drive up her total cost to approx $650. I've never built a PC before but from a price edge point of view, i know i can build for cheaper than that - but not as fast as this e-bay item. Plus the vendor is offering software included w/ the PC. What daya think?

Pass on it! My experience and knowledge of auction deals is that you always get less than you paid for. Try this...

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/offers/specials_3x_special61.htm

Mark099!

I totally agree with Mark! You're trolling fer trouble buying at eBay...especially with someone else's money!

As for NewEgg...I buy their refurb mobos pretty often and have had excellent results, not perfect, but one out of ten is pretty danged good by me. NE's excellent RMA policy minimizes the risk factor. The refurb vid cards have been less consistent than the mobos. I LOVE buying the refurb cases!!!! I've gotten some absolutely killa deals on their cases. I landed a Xaser II for $85 w/shipping. I also got a Kingwin Aluminum for the same price, $85. That one was blue w/4 windows and 6 fans and in perfect shape. I've also scored some great $20 - $30 cases.

>Damn i was chompin at the bits to have my first try at
>building a new PC for her but then i found this deal earlier.
>I feel compelled to atleast tell her about it so she can
>decide between thsi deal or having me build one for her.
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2741769749&category=38114
>
>All she would have to do is pay for shipping ($80-$100) and
>buy a monitor ($150) which would drive up her total cost to
>approx $650. I've never built a PC before but from a price
>edge point of view, i know i can build for cheaper than that -
>but not as fast as this e-bay item. Plus the vendor is
>offering software included w/ the PC. What daya think?

Is this going to be her first computer? If so, I'd pass on building her one.

Check out the new computer systems at places like Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City and Fry's. They have a number of complete systems, for well under $1,000. I've seen TV ads for Celeron systems for under $599. The cheap ones are not good crunchin' machines for the UD Agent, or for 3D games, but they are an excellent value for a first computer, for web surfing and office work.

The added advantage is you can return it if it breaks or doesn't work properly.

AMD Athlon64 3000+, MSI K8T Neo-FSR, Corsair CMX512-PC3200C2, Windows XP Pro, High-Speed AOL Plus!

Only 2 PCI slots and an AGB, Video and sound all on MB. It's really a low end MB. SW is about the only redeeming feature. Look at Mark's Dell deal.

HettaLongrun: OMG - i can't believe you just said that on this board! Sorry bud, if you think those deals are "good value" you're totally missing out on the point. Did i forget to mention she wants a good quality PC? Personally i would NEVER considering buying from BestBuy, or any of those retail outfits for a brand new PC. For several reasons. At this point, the deals offered by those merchants do not in my opinion compete with Dell or Gateway. Sony, e-machine, etc... all the same to me. Comcrap is just that. And now that HP & Comcrap have merged, there's no way i'll buy a PC from either company. Knowing what i know about computers now, the only way i'll go for myself is homebuilt systems.

BobH: I'm confused as i see 5 PCI slots in that MB - which MB are you referring to? And what is SW?

Mickster: I wasn't planning on using her money to buy that e-bay item for her. I was simply going to tell her about it so she can buy it herself. At any rate, I appreciate your feedback cuz i know you buy a lot from NE. You seem like you've got a lot of experience building PCs. Someone on this thread mentioned that MBs that can accept either type of RAM (SD RAM / DDR RAM) "are not very forward" - how much do you agree with that statement?

She is not a gamer. She's an actress needing a PC for relatively simple purposes. One thing she asked for in particular is in regards to voice / sound editing. She wants to be able to take MP3s and edit them. When i asked further detailed questions, she did not seem to know herself exactly whether she wanted to create and edit. At any rate, i see that as a software functionality, and told her the only software i would load for her is OS and ZoneAlarm. She's very PC illiterate and did not even know what WinXP was. I don't think she needs a sound card, but if the budget allows - i thought i might slap one in there since she is so keen on this voice/sound editing.

Mark: Here's my thing with Dell. Years ago i had a horrible experience with them and turned out i had a lemon. Of course i got them to replace it, but the effort and the nightmare i had to go through to get that accomplished was awful. I really hesitate to buy from them and reading the Dell forums latey, their customer service hasn't improved one bit - gone right down the sh*tter. That deal you posted seems good considering she's getting a new monitor.

But #1) I've seen the newer Dells and they do not seem very good for upgrading. Seems like they have gone even more proprietary than before. #2) building one for her will mean she and I can decide exactly what to put in the new system and know EXACTLY what she's getting. #3) and thus upgrading will be much easier.

When i said she's on a tight budget, she wants to spend around $550 ($575 tops) For that kind of money, I think she's better off having one built for her. But when i saw that e-Bay auction item, i thought i would atleast give her the choice and let her make the call.

Audio editing is going to take some pretty hefty power, especially if she is looking at doing long pieces and multiple tracks. So she's going to need a fairly fast CPU (at least an XP1700+ Tbred), 512MB of PC2100/2700 DDR, a decent sized HD for holding all the temp files (if she's using CoolEditPro or SoundForge), and a motherboard with at the very least a KT333 board. I would look at the Dell's available if you aren't too keen about buying parts and building one.

HettaLongrun: OMG - i can't believe you just said that on this board! Sorry bud, if you think those deals are "good value" you're totally missing out on the point. Did i forget to mention she wants a good quality PC? Personally i would NEVER considering buying from BestBuy, or any of those retail outfits for a brand new PC. For several reasons. At this point, the deals offered by those merchants do not in my opinion compete with Dell or Gateway. Sony, e-machine, etc... all the same to me. Comcrap is just that. And now that HP & Comcrap have merged, there's no way i'll buy a PC from either company. Knowing what i know about computers now, the only way i'll go for myself is homebuilt systems.

She is not a gamer. She's an actress needing a PC for relatively simple purposes. One thing she asked for in particular is in regards to voice / sound editing. She wants to be able to take MP3s and edit them. When i asked further detailed questions, she did not seem to know herself exactly whether she wanted to create and edit. At any rate, i see that as a software functionality, and told her the only software i would load for her is OS and ZoneAlarm. She's very PC illiterate and did not even know what WinXP was. I don't think she needs a sound card, but if the budget allows - i thought i might slap one in there since she is so keen on this voice/sound editing.

Heh, heh, heh, _Chewy_!

You need to get her to the point where she can articulate her needs, more specifically. It sounds like she may want to do some semi-pro vocal/music work, and you aren't going to be able to do that, with separate components, on a $600 budget. Some of the stuff she is probably going to want is in a professional musical instrument store. Mics and mixers, for example. That's also where you may wind up, going for software. Check the phone book and see what musical instrument stores are in your area, then visit one or two. See what they have. Just tell 'em yer looking, not buying, but they can practice their selling technique on you in between "real" customers. If nothing else, find out what you need to look for in sound for voice input and midi.

You also need to remember that women ask questions! We guys can plug it through, figuring out stuff on our own, learnin' new stuff on the way, but women usually don't. If they run into a mechanical or electronic problem, they stop and pick up the phone and call someone for help, Mr. Helpful!

AMD Athlon64 3000+, MSI K8T Neo-FSR, Corsair CMX512-PC3200C2, Windows XP Pro, High-Speed AOL Plus!

>You also need to remember that women ask questions! We guys
>can plug it through, figuring out stuff on our own, learnin'
>new stuff on the way, but women usually don't. If they run
>into a mechanical or electronic problem, they stop and pick up
>the phone and call someone for help, Mr. Helpful!

Sometimes being Mr. Helpful has other fringe benefits that i can't mention here. Sometimes us women are very grateful.

Yeah, well, that's true, Patty, but I like beer. Most of the time, they wanna give me some wine and brioche. Beer good. Steak good. Don't really like wine and bread.

AMD Athlon64 3000+, MSI K8T Neo-FSR, Corsair CMX512-PC3200C2, Windows XP Pro, High-Speed AOL Plus!

>Yeah, well, that's true, Patty, but I like beer. Most of the
>time, they wanna give me some wine and brioche. Beer good.
>Steak good. Don't really like wine and bread.
I think they had something in mind after the wine & bread

Well, Patty, 6 beers, two steaks and a couple of plates of home fries, and whatdotheywantfromapoorguy? *burp*

AMD Athlon64 3000+, MSI K8T Neo-FSR, Corsair CMX512-PC3200C2, Windows XP Pro, High-Speed AOL Plus!

>Well, Patty, 6 beers, two steaks and a couple of plates of
>home fries, and whatdotheywantfromapoorguy? *burp*
damn that be alot of food for one man. I guess nothing after them 6 beers

>

Patty i was about to be "mr. helpful" but then i realized you're in KY and nowhere even close to me. So figured... ehhh i'll just go back to vodka tonic. And BTW, i think you and HETTA should get a room.

Folks, as a side note from now on, please don't bother to spell my name w/ the underscores. I appreciate you being attentive to details but it's totally unnecessary. When i registered here, for some reason it wouldn't take my username w/out the underscores.

>>
>
>Patty i was about to be "mr. helpful" but then i realized
>you're in KY and nowhere even close to me. So figured... ehhh
>i'll just go back to vodka tonic. And BTW, i think you and
>HETTA should get a room.
>


Yep being in KY keeps me from getting into trouble i think. Actually i have been well behaved here from my usually rantings. Wouldn't want to get spanked by one of the mod over here. So that i'm not ot too much hope you fine some good deals. I'm building me own computer right now too. And yes i do have 2 Mr. Helpful of my own that i yell at when i get stuck. But they live far away so i guess i'll just have to send them a thank you instead.

Guitar Center, if you have one locally. I stopped into the Spokane branch before we went to get lunch at Outback, and got to hear a set of Tannoy Reveal X monitors.. drools..

Sorry, that was 2 free PCI slots. Wonder what's in the other 3? How did you determine which MB it was?

SW = SoftWare

All referring to e-bay deal.

You should really read about the buyers feedback on that EBAY auction. I would not spend a dime on them, seeing what his long term trend has been. I would trust Best Buy first.

Keep it local or try with Dell, it couldn't be worse, or just build it yourself.

Ed W.

I appreciate all your input guyz. I'm gonna have to talk with her again and get some more clarification to some of those audio editing requirements. Before i go further, i think that would be the smart thing to do so that i have a very clear understanding of what she wants. The thing is that when i pressed her for details Tuesday night, she seemed unclear herself on what her timeline was when she told me "... yeah i plan on doing it in the near future" in terms of audio editing.

Good luck, _Chewy_!

Heh! BTW, I copy/paste yer name!

Well, buy her some 6 beers and a couple of steaks and she'll come around.

Women are kinda funny about that kinda stuff. Wierd, but they wanna do it, but they don't wanna talk about it.

Proly call you at 2 in the morning.

AMD Athlon64 3000+, MSI K8T Neo-FSR, Corsair CMX512-PC3200C2, Windows XP Pro, High-Speed AOL Plus!

>Good luck, _Chewy_!
>
>Heh! BTW, I copy/paste yer name!
>
>Well, buy her some 6 beers and a couple of steaks and she'll
>come around.

uhhh no... Seeing as how she can't directly answer my questions from our last meeting, that actually sounds like something she could use to entice me to continue pouring my time and effort into this. Acutally what i have in mind is something else and i doubt i can say it on this board.

Acutally what i have in mind
>is something else and i doubt i can say it on this board.
>

I wonder what that be. I know my Mr. Helpful has been wonderful me wonder what he have in mind.

Patty's gonna have to start her own website...with a livecam of course!

>Patty's gonna have to start her own website...with a livecam
>of course!
>
That may be a good idea. With blow by blow accounts of me adventures