Looking for a good desktop custom builder

[putty]

I saw the other thread from 2002 but I figured that an update would be needed.

I'm not a gamer, but will do some video editing. I'd like to spend ~$1500-1700 with a 17" LCD monitor (ie ~$1200 for the system). I'm looking at ABS, Velocity, Systemax (through tigerdirect), Monarch, ibuypower, mwave, dell, etc and was wondering if any of you have tips.

I've read the reviews on this site and it seems like just about all the vendors have their share of horror stories. I'm decent with computers (I can replace hard drives, etc) but I know NOTHING about motherboards, cooling systems and the like. I'm not one who will need alot of tech support for basic functions but if things go wrong, I don't want to be ignored.

Thanks for any advice.

[EvilRick]

Just to clarify, are you getting the parts and putting it together yourself, or buying "barebones" and having them bench test it for you?

Either way, I'm a big MWave.com fan.

[putty]

I'd like to have them do everything but with my customized components. One day I'll put together a system from scratch but no time these days...

[Christian-Comp]

The best way to do it is build it yourself. Its a great learning experience and there are many people that can help you, including myself. Not only will you have a great system, but you'll have the satisfaction of an accomplishment. And as ER pointed out, mwave.com is a good place to get parts. You could save some serious $$ by doing it yourself too.

Personally, though, I've seen a lot of systemax lemons out there, sold through HSN. I built one for someone because of a bad computer - they got everything they ordered form HSN on the systemax, and I built it for $700 less than they paid. They were happy.

[EvilRick]

They do have the $79.99 Assembly & Testing for "Build Your Own Systems". You have to pick the parts/OS and they put it together. That can't be a bad thing for somebody who doesn't want to build their own yet.

I've never used it, but I like MWave.com and don't think you could go wrong with them.

[putty]

Thanks for the advice guys.

One thing that keeps me thinking is what if there's a problem? It seems as though customer service is kinda shaky for these places. I know that Dell isn't the greatest but they generally are reported to have the best service of the big boys.

If things start acting up, I don't want to have to send 4 emails before someone gets back to me. I don't want a place that will send to the individual OEMs with problems, I want someone who will take responsibility.

[sweeper2]

my suggestion is before you start to buy parts etc from a company, call and ask about their technical support and warranty policies. What ever you can think of that might be troublesome to you. But if you need other advice, people here are more then welcome to help you out, or stop on over to TechIMO.com and we can help you out over there also. Either place has very talanted people with alot of knowledge.

good luck...