Computer Quote? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

todd · 01-09-2006, 10:56 AM

Is there a "Kelly Bluebook" type of website for custom built computers? Like where you put in all your computers specs and information and it gives you a price range for selling?

I found a few similar forms using Google, but they are all ran by individual companies and seem to be built for finding out how much it would cost you to buy a system FROM them.

Or maybe somebody here can just help me out. I'm wanting to invest in a pretty high end laptop. It might end up being about as fast as my current CPU (which is only 5 or 6 months old), in which case i'd probably want to sell it.
Heres some basic specs
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ processor
2 gigabytes pqi PC3200 RAM
ATi Radeon X800 Pro 256 megabyte video card
Asus A8V Deluxe Motherboard
Hauppauge WinTV-Pro TV capture card
Thermaltake Tsunami Silver case w/ 400W Power supply

How much would you sell a CPU like this for? Monitor and other peripherals would not be included.

One other quick question. My idea is (if I buy the laptop, and do sell the CPU) to basically use the laptop as a CPU. I would plug my monitor, speakers, mouse, and keyboard into it so I could use it as a desktop when i'm at home. Is this a common or normal thing to do? Does it work well? I would of course buy a good laptop cooler pad to keep on it at all times, because heat would definitly be an issue I know.

Thanks!

Chamaeleontidae · 01-09-2006, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by todd

One other quick question. My idea is (if I buy the laptop, and do sell the CPU) to basically use the laptop as a CPU. I would plug my monitor, speakers, mouse, and keyboard into it so I could use it as a desktop when i'm at home. Is this a common or normal thing to do? Does it work well? I would of course buy a good laptop cooler pad to keep on it at all times, because heat would definitly be an issue I know.

Some laptops have "docking stations" as options. e.g. I have an IBM thinkpad with a docking station. Keyboard, mouse, video and speakers etc... plug into the docking station. The laptop the plugs into the docking station with one big connection on the bottom of the laptop.

This just makes it easier to use the laptop as a desktop.

catback · 01-09-2006, 01:06 PM

yea I second the docking station if you take your laptop on the go quite a bit, speeds up the connecting and disconnecting. As for pricing your desktop computer I know of no kelly blue book type deal for PC's, best way I'd think to do it is to price it comparatively to what an equal spec system would cost now.

gustaf00 · 01-09-2006, 05:55 PM

Where are you planning on selling? You want to price it comparably to how things are selling in your intended market. Also, you might find that you might make more money splitting everything up and selling the pieces individually...people want deals when they buy a package, whereas an individual component you can usually sell at its own value.

P-Naughty · 01-10-2006, 04:21 PM

There is no set standard for selling custom built computers, and alot of people just aren't interested in paying you what it is worth on something like eBay. Alot of this is due to the complete lack of knowledge on the expertise of the builder. If it is from some boutique company or reputable manufacturer, you may not have that problem. But either way you look at it, you would be better off just taking it apart and selling the components.

But about this high-end notebook thing... In all honesty, unless you have a cool $4000-$5000 to blow on one, don't waste your time. Yes, certain companies like Dell (only their XPS line), Falcon Northwest, and Alienware make good gaming laptops, but on average they are roughly twice as much as a comparable desktop. And guess what happens if something happens like the graphics card or mobo frying? That's right, you are sans lappy for atleast 2 weeks while it is shipped off to be repaired. Just think about it.

(And why do people insist in calling computers CPUs? No offense to anybody, but I was always taught CPU = Central Processing Unit. In other words, it stands for your processor, not the whole thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

portwineboy · 01-11-2006, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-Naughty

(And why do people insist in calling computers CPUs? No offense to anybody, but I was always taught CPU = Central Processing Unit. In other words, it stands for your processor, not the whole thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Yea i'm with you on this. Todd you are selling that Athlon 64, THAT is your CPU.

Most laptops don't require a cooling pad for desktop use, only for laptop use (meaning it's actually on your lap while you are working)

You could probably get a decent laptop for the parts you are selling...especially if you didn't mount the CPU on the motherboard yet. I bought (for a client) an HP Athlon 64 laptop for about $1k. Now I'm not recommending HP because the damn thing had to go back after 2 weeks when the vid card died, but I've seen Lenovo/Thinkpads for under $1k. I can't recommend those machines enough.

I'm not a fan of docks. Most laptops these days have a VGA port, audio out and USB ports sufficient for mouse and keyboard. Docks are just something else to break, and they break way too often.

If you are buying a laptop, the ONLY time I recommend an extended warranty is for a laptop purchase and ONLY if it covers accidental damage.

Hope that helps.

archpaladin · 01-16-2006, 10:36 AM

Quote:

One other quick question. My idea is (if I buy the laptop, and do sell the CPU) to basically use the laptop as a CPU.

Jargon technicalities aside, how long exactly were you planning to leave it sitting as a desktop machine? If you were only going to seldom take it out, you're probably better off with an actual desktop computer since you can get more upgrade options.

sailor · 01-17-2006, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by archpaladin

Jargon technicalities aside, how long exactly were you planning to leave it sitting as a desktop machine? If you were only going to seldom take it out, you're probably better off with an actual desktop computer since you can get more upgrade options.

Ditto. I know tons of people that have bought laptops that never left their desks. They could have gotten a faster desktop PC for half the price...

I too would recommend against buying a "gaming" laptop. Theyre terribly overpriced, quickly outdated, too large to use as an actual portable machine, and generally still don't play games that well.

For just a general laptop, I've been using IBMs for over 10 years, and have never had a problem with one. Consistently the best built laptops around, bar none.

todd · 01-17-2006, 10:21 AM

Thanks for the information, guys.

Sorry for the misunderstanding; i'm trying to sell the tower as a whole. The only thing missing would be a hard drive.

I went ahead and ordered a HP zd8000 fully customized. It will have a P4 3.4 ghz, 2 gigs ram, ATi Radeon x600 256 mb graphics card, etc. I'll just try using it on a day to day basis for a little bit and see if I'm happy with the performance. If I am, I'll sell the tower. We'll see.

I'm also still interested in hearing how much you think the tower i'm selling is worth. I listed the specs in my first post. I spent about $1,400 on it about 5-6 months ago.

P-Naughty · 01-19-2006, 12:11 PM

Depends really... Yeah, you have alot of decent hardware in there, but as I stated earlier you would probably come out ahead just selling the parts. People are skeptical of buying a "gaming pc" on something like eBay. There are no standards out there about what is required to be a worthy rig. Yeah, from the list of hardware it sounds okay, but a buyer doesn't know what you've done with/to it. You could have overclocked the CPU and almost fried it, taken a whiz on the mobo, or stuck a gerbil in the power supply for all they know.

01-09-2006, 10:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
todd Addict Location: Chicago	Computer Quote? Is there a "Kelly Bluebook" type of website for custom built computers? Like where you put in all your computers specs and information and it gives you a price range for selling? I found a few similar forms using Google, but they are all ran by individual companies and seem to be built for finding out how much it would cost you to buy a system FROM them. Or maybe somebody here can just help me out. I'm wanting to invest in a pretty high end laptop. It might end up being about as fast as my current CPU (which is only 5 or 6 months old), in which case i'd probably want to sell it. Heres some basic specs AMD Athlon 64 4000+ processor 2 gigabytes pqi PC3200 RAM ATi Radeon X800 Pro 256 megabyte video card Asus A8V Deluxe Motherboard Hauppauge WinTV-Pro TV capture card Thermaltake Tsunami Silver case w/ 400W Power supply How much would you sell a CPU like this for? Monitor and other peripherals would not be included. One other quick question. My idea is (if I buy the laptop, and do sell the CPU) to basically use the laptop as a CPU. I would plug my monitor, speakers, mouse, and keyboard into it so I could use it as a desktop when i'm at home. Is this a common or normal thing to do? Does it work well? I would of course buy a good laptop cooler pad to keep on it at all times, because heat would definitly be an issue I know. Thanks!

01-10-2006, 04:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
P-Naughty Crazy Location: Georgia Southern University	There is no set standard for selling custom built computers, and alot of people just aren't interested in paying you what it is worth on something like eBay. Alot of this is due to the complete lack of knowledge on the expertise of the builder. If it is from some boutique company or reputable manufacturer, you may not have that problem. But either way you look at it, you would be better off just taking it apart and selling the components. But about this high-end notebook thing... In all honesty, unless you have a cool $4000-$5000 to blow on one, don't waste your time. Yes, certain companies like Dell (only their XPS line), Falcon Northwest, and Alienware make good gaming laptops, but on average they are roughly twice as much as a comparable desktop. And guess what happens if something happens like the graphics card or mobo frying? That's right, you are sans lappy for atleast 2 weeks while it is shipped off to be repaired. Just think about it. (And why do people insist in calling computers CPUs? No offense to anybody, but I was always taught CPU = Central Processing Unit. In other words, it stands for your processor, not the whole thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.) __________________ I will not walk so that a child may live! - Master Shake

01-17-2006, 10:21 AM	#9 (permalink)
todd Addict Location: Chicago	Thanks for the information, guys. Sorry for the misunderstanding; i'm trying to sell the tower as a whole. The only thing missing would be a hard drive. I went ahead and ordered a HP zd8000 fully customized. It will have a P4 3.4 ghz, 2 gigs ram, ATi Radeon x600 256 mb graphics card, etc. I'll just try using it on a day to day basis for a little bit and see if I'm happy with the performance. If I am, I'll sell the tower. We'll see. I'm also still interested in hearing how much you think the tower i'm selling is worth. I listed the specs in my first post. I spent about $1,400 on it about 5-6 months ago. Last edited by todd; 01-17-2006 at 10:23 AM..

01-19-2006, 12:11 PM	#10 (permalink)
P-Naughty Crazy Location: Georgia Southern University	Depends really... Yeah, you have alot of decent hardware in there, but as I stated earlier you would probably come out ahead just selling the parts. People are skeptical of buying a "gaming pc" on something like eBay. There are no standards out there about what is required to be a worthy rig. Yeah, from the list of hardware it sounds okay, but a buyer doesn't know what you've done with/to it. You could have overclocked the CPU and almost fried it, taken a whiz on the mobo, or stuck a gerbil in the power supply for all they know. __________________ I will not walk so that a child may live! - Master Shake

01-09-2006, 01:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
catback Psycho Location: North America	yea I second the docking station if you take your laptop on the go quite a bit, speeds up the connecting and disconnecting. As for pricing your desktop computer I know of no kelly blue book type deal for PC's, best way I'd think to do it is to price it comparatively to what an equal spec system would cost now.

01-09-2006, 05:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
gustaf00 Upright	Where are you planning on selling? You want to price it comparably to how things are selling in your intended market. Also, you might find that you might make more money splitting everything up and selling the pieces individually...people want deals when they buy a package, whereas an individual component you can usually sell at its own value.