New PC advise for Medium Format

[Craig Lamson]

To recommend such an enterprise to someone less experienced is plainly naive, irresponsible, stupid.

The extra money paid to someone with the responsability of providing a working solution, is well spent.

Cheers,
Bart

Clearly you and I find ourselves different sides of this issue.  Lets take this to the subject of photography for example.  Would you advise the op NOT shoot his first wedding for example?  Or first Portrait session?  First commercial shoot?  First Fashion shoot?  Gotta be a first time for everything.  And if you do your homework and prepare chances are good you will do just fine.

Naive? Irresponsible? Stupid?  Sheesh.....

Look..an alternative to pre built was offered.  Thats it.  If the OP is not comfortable with the selection and assembly thats great.  If he is he has that option as well.  Again its not rocket science.  I've been building for 20 years and todays hardware is the most plug and play I have ever seen.  Sure thing happen but they happen with pre built as well.  Heck its taken me 4 different macbook pro's to find two that actually work, And yet my current desktop workstation built only a few months ago...by me...has been assemble, boot first time..produce work.  

I've no beef with Puget, they seem like a decent company.  I'm sure they assemble a fine produce from their parts buffet.

[Steve Weldon]

+1

I'm reasonably comfortable with PC configurations myself, and the various variables available to compose a theoretical system. In practice though, and I've whitnessed it close up, just combining superior components is no guarantee whatsoever that the configuration will actually work (reliably). I've seen that even an experienced electrical engineer can get stuck, just because a memory stick is of the wrong brand, or a motherboard's timing is not optimal, or the latest firmware is not installed, or ...

To recommend such an enterprise to someone less experienced is plainly naive, irresponsible, stupid.

The extra money paid to someone with the responsability of providing a working solution, is well spent.

Cheers,
Bart

1.  An "electrical engineer" really has little to do with electronics or computers.  I don't see the relevance.  

2.  You must be kidding.. there are a zillion "how to build a PC for dummies" books out there, Youtube tutorials, etc.. this is one of the easiest self-help projects of our times.  I think it would be plainly naive, irresponsible and stupid to suggest it isn't. (tongue in cheek of course..)

[Steve Weldon]

To isolate the silliness.

1.  No one is knocking using a PC builder.  I myself suggested it as an alternative in the opening posts.  It has its advantages.

2.  Clearly "some" people in this thread aren't knowledgeable/comfortable enough to build their own computer as evidenced by the content of their comments.  Not everyone has the same strengths.  Not a problem.

3.  I suggest the hysteria over the issue is silly.  If you don't feel comfortable building your own PC then don't do it.  Just don't assume everyone shares your discomfort or ability level.  I've worked with electronics since I was 9, I'm an extra class ham radio operator, was a Naval Cryptographer/Electronics specialist for two decades, and have more college level electronic classes than someone with a masters in electronic engineering.  I also build custom PC's for my clients and do 'light' equipment reviews.  Assembling a PC requires absolutely 'zero' electronics knowledge above the consumer level and is more about doing research and following directions than anything else.  Building a PC IS NOT an electronic mystery.


What I take issue with:

a.  The concept that we should restrict what information we provide to a poster for fear we will hurt our industry.  A forum is all about sharing information.  Any attempt to restrict what's shared severely hurts the function of a forum and does the OP a disservice.

b.   That we somehow need to protect the OP from himself.  The man reached 74 years of age and probably knows more about 'things' than those younger.  I'm sure he can make a sound decision either way.

c.  The hysteria and exaggerations and attaching words like naive, stupid, irresponsible.. and in reference to a technical issue in a technical forum nonetheless..