Just some advice needed please

[rudils]

Hi everyone. I need to get a pc together for my son for his studies next year after matric. Was just wondering, would it be worth it getting one now, or better to wait for the new year? Not sure what the pricing is going to do, so if anyone has any ideas or advice, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Elon]

I would say that pricing will be better next year, the pandemic is making everything more expensive in all sorts of ways, from component shortages to shipping restrictions to increased demand to limited staff at customs. Maybe April?

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Well when next year? If its early like Jan, Feb prices will not change much.
Rather have a look on Carbonite what you can get secondhand (just buy from someone with high Itrader)

 

[rudils]

I would say that pricing will be better next year, the pandemic is making everything more expensive in all sorts of ways, from component shortages to shipping restrictions to increased demand to limited staff at customs. Maybe April?

Unfortunately we can't wait that long, will have to get it early if we do wait for next year. The pandemic is not going away anytime soon

 

[rudils]

Well when next year? If its early like Jan, Feb prices will not change much.
Rather have a look on Carbonite what you can get secondhand (just buy from someone with high Itrader)

Thanks, but I'd rather go for new so I can have warranties etc

 

[Elon]

The FDA is making a decision on vaccinations this week AFAIK but it’s going to take a while to distribute.
May I ask what you are planning on buying?

 

[Sinbad]

Advice #1. Get a laptop so it is at least a bit independant of Eskom. Nothing like a blackout just before an assignment is due.

Advice #2: subscribe to some form of Cloud backup service with malware/ransom ware protection for the machine.

 

[rudils]

The FDA is making a decision on vaccinations this week AFAIK but it’s going to take a while to distribute.
May I ask what you are planning on buying?

It's gonna be quite a workhorse as he will be doing video and photo editing etc, plus the occasional gaming.

 

[rudils]

Advice #1. Get a laptop so it is at least a bit independant of Eskom. Nothing like a blackout just before an assignment is due.

Advice #2: subscribe to some form of Cloud backup service with malware/ransom ware protection for the machine.

On point 1, would rather go for a desktop because future upgrades are so much easier

Point 2, already sorted on that, thanks

 

[animehero]

Thanks, but I'd rather go for new so I can have warranties etc

There's a lot of stuff on carbonite that has a warranty period left if that you could keep an eye out for.
Even if you decide to build a brand new pc, there are parts that could save you quite a few bucks if you go the second hand route. Just make sure to load the machine on your insurance at market value for extra piece of mind

Edit: what are you looking to buy/ build and what's your budget like if you don't mind me asking?

 

[rudils]

There's a lot of stuff on carbonite that has a warranty period left if that you could keep an eye out for.
Even if you decide to build a brand new pc, there are parts that could save you quite a few bucks if you go the second hand route. Just make sure to load the machine on your insurance at market value for extra piece of mind

Edit: what are you looking to buy/ build and what's your budget like if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks, will have a look

I don't have set specs yet, but looking at quite a hefty one. Budget around R25k

 

[UrBaN963]

Thanks, will have a look

I don't have set specs yet, but looking at quite a hefty one. Budget around R25k

is this for just the tower, or screen, keyboard, mouse as well?

 

[rudils]

is this for just the tower, or screen, keyboard, mouse as well?

Complete

 

[UrBaN963]

Trying to do semi-high-end at that price is tricky. If you could, I would go with something like this. Just need to add a keyboard as Wootware don't have stock of any cheaper keyboards at the moment. Obviously you could spend less on the graphics card, but it's probably your best bang-for-buck at the moment.

 

[rudils]

Trying to do semi-high-end at that price is tricky. If you could, I would go with something like this. Just need to add a keyboard as Wootware don't have stock of any cheaper keyboards at the moment. Obviously you could spend less on the graphics card, but it's probably your best bang-for-buck at the moment.

View attachment 968202

Cool, thanks, will check it out

 

[ArmatageShanks]

Thanks, will have a look

I don't have set specs yet, but looking at quite a hefty one. Budget around R25k

Geez 25K?

When I tried to spin my Dad the story of I need a PC for School in st6 he came back the next week with his bakkie full of old obsolete towers from the mine's offices.
None of them were complete or working, I dragged at least 15 of these boxes to my room, by the Saturday morning I had a working Pentium 3 with a 800mhz AMD Athlon, by the afternoon I had it running at 1Ghz, then my brother came home on Sunday and pointed out to me that there are 1.5Ghz Pentium 4 systems and I should assembly that.

Having never worked on a PC before that was a fun evening.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Geez 25K?

When I tried to spin my Dad the story of I need a PC for School in st6 he came back the next week with his bakkie full of old obsolete towers from the mine's offices.
None of them were complete or working, I dragged at least 15 of these boxes to my room, by the Saturday morning I had a working Pentium 3 with a 800mhz AMD Athlon, by the afternoon I had it running at 1Ghz, then my brother came home on Sunday and pointed out to me that there are 1.5Ghz Pentium 4 systems and I should assembly that.

Having never worked on a PC before that was a fun evening.

a boer maak a plan way of getting a PC for a Kid,
was the same for me growing up, got together a 486 DX100 that way,
unfortunately was too young to hold a screwdriver, so struggled a bit.

 

[rudils]

Geez 25K?

When I tried to spin my Dad the story of I need a PC for School in st6 he came back the next week with his bakkie full of old obsolete towers from the mine's offices.
None of them were complete or working, I dragged at least 15 of these boxes to my room, by the Saturday morning I had a working Pentium 3 with a 800mhz AMD Athlon, by the afternoon I had it running at 1Ghz, then my brother came home on Sunday and pointed out to me that there are 1.5Ghz Pentium 4 systems and I should assembly that.

Having never worked on a PC before that was a fun evening.

Lol, I hear ya and I was the same growing up. We have been saving up for this for a while, because it's essential for his studies he's going to do and also as a work pc once he starts, so an investment from our side basically.

 

[RaptorSA]

Geez 25K?

When I tried to spin my Dad the story of I need a PC for School in st6 he came back the next week with his bakkie full of old obsolete towers from the mine's offices.
None of them were complete or working, I dragged at least 15 of these boxes to my room, by the Saturday morning I had a working Pentium 3 with a 800mhz AMD Athlon, by the afternoon I had it running at 1Ghz, then my brother came home on Sunday and pointed out to me that there are 1.5Ghz Pentium 4 systems and I should assembly that.

Having never worked on a PC before that was a fun evening.

This is what my dad brought home after asking for a PC in the mid 90's.
And no it's not a joke. I even got a few boxes of 8 inch floppies with it, lucky me
Brandarm.

 

[Rickster]

Trying to do semi-high-end at that price is tricky. If you could, I would go with something like this. Just need to add a keyboard as Wootware don't have stock of any cheaper keyboards at the moment. Obviously you could spend less on the graphics card, but it's probably your best bang-for-buck at the moment.

View attachment 968202

Out of curiosity, why go the Loot way when wootware specializes in PC tech?