When I first met Chris, I worked for a company that built and sold PC clones to small businesses. We would buy the cases and motherboards and memory and drives and fabricate a custom computer for the needs of our clients.
Back then, a finished computer cost a lot of money.
Computer Savvy, Chris’ training center, needed a lot of computers.
It has been quite a while since I built my last computer, opting instead for preconfigured laptops.
My son, Devon wanted a computer for his birthday. We could have scrounged a workable system from old parts and such, but decided to build new from a kit instead. A good opportunity for father/son bonding.
The kit was purchased at CompUSA/Tiger Direct. They have a retail store here in Fort Lauderdale.
I got a bit of an attitude from the sales kid at the store. He suggested that they could put it together better. “You want it to work, don’t you?”
We had to install everything into the case. Power supply, motherboard, memory, display adapter, hard drive, DVD drive and connect all the wires and cables.
It was very rewarding when we got it all together and it worked! No sizzle or smoke when we plugged it in and turned it on. It came right up to the message “Operating System not Installed.”
These kits don’t normally include the Operating System. We installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Then we installed the drivers for the components. I like a desktop for home. It still has plenty of room for expansion.
It kind of reminded me of having to build my first car way back when. Well, I didn’t really build the whole thing. I just had to replace the engine and electrical system on the ‘62 Triumph Spitfire. Luckily, my dad had a Texaco service station with all the tools needed.
Did we save money by doing it this way? Some, maybe. I believe Devon has more pride in the accomplishment than if it was just something he received.
