[mythtv-users] recommendations?: energy efficient FE/BE system

[John Marshall]

On 2/18/2015 3:57 PM, Eric Sharkey wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 2:43 PM, Gary Buhrmaster
> <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 5:35 PM, James Miller <gajs-f0el at dea.spamcon.org> wrote:
>> .....
>>> I realize I could economize by buying parts separately and putting them
>>> together myself and am prepared to do that.
>>
>> While this (saving money) may still be possible, it is no
>> longer assured because of OEM quantity discounts,
>> retail loss-leaders, discontinued stock pricing, etc.  If
>> (for example) you tried to individually source the exact
>> same parts as a typical Dell computer it could very
>> well cost you more than ordering direct.
>
> You can still save money doing it yourself in the long run.  If a part
> fails or you want to upgrade a component, it's usually easier to
> fix/upgrade this yourself if you have a generic white box pc put
> together from parts.  Big manufactures like Dell sometimes have parts
> which are custom to the units they sell and not as easily
> interchangeable with standard parts.  Getting replacement parts from
> Dell can be quite costly and time consuming.

Motherboards and drives bought separately usually have 3- or 5-year 
manufacturer warranties, whereas with a pre-built PC you might just get 
a 1-year warranty on everything from the seller.  Plus you can choose 
exact parts with the specs/quality you want, and ensure all components 
are Linux-compatible.  If you have kids building a PC is a fun learning 
exercise.