b) Why should I assemble the parts if I select them via a configurator in an online-shop?
If the customer configures a complete system ("built-to-order") it should come ready for use. This is also better for most people in regard to guarantee...
This is strictly for those who wish to build their own systems and would gather the parts themselves anyway. In short, this would be a parts retailer (there are already several, big box and specialty alike) with an intelligent configurator that would help the person putting together all the pieces know if there's a conflict in advance. Even the savviest DIY'er gets caught here and there with incompatible pieces.
This could also be a way to tell the configurator the pieces you already have and as you assemble new pieces - say a new motherboard and CPU - if they'll be compatible with what you've already got, offering to fill in the incompatible pieces with new parts along the way. Again, for the DIY crowd, not those who are satisfied with off-the-shelf computers or custom configuring something from a retailer (even those have very real limits on what you can and can't put in a particular system).
In theory you would save a few hundreds bucks over a similarly equipped system by doing the labor yourself, but even if it's a wash in terms of price, there are still advantages. That's what this is about, really, not having someone else assemble your system for you, like a Dell or HP or Lenovo or whomever. This also allows you to avoid bloatware, which is often used to subsidize the prices of these systems. Personally I gave up building my own system after I did it with a Pentium II 266 (partially due to time and partially due to cost effectiveness), so you know it's been quite a while, but I certainly can understand the appeal and would consider going that route if I wanted to build a pure, cheap gaming rig just dedicated to that purpose. With that said, there are gaming PC makers with some killer rig offerings for around $600 complete (sans monitor), so that's a hard case to argue against, but still, I see great potential in the truly-customize-and-then-build-it-yourself-idea.
b) Why should I assemble the parts if I select them via a configurator in an online-shop?
If the customer configures a complete system ("built-to-order") it should come ready for use. This is also better for most people in regard to guarantee...
This is strictly for those who wish to build their own systems and would gather the parts themselves anyway. In short, this would be a parts retailer (there are already several, big box and specialty alike) with an intelligent configurator that would help the person putting together all the pieces know if there's a conflict in advance. Even the savviest DIY'er gets caught here and there with incompatible pieces.
This could also be a way to tell the configurator the pieces you already have and as you assemble new pieces - say a new motherboard and CPU - if they'll be compatible with what you've already got, offering to fill in the incompatible pieces with new parts along the way. Again, for the DIY crowd, not those who are satisfied with off-the-shelf computers or custom configuring something from a retailer (even those have very real limits on what you can and can't put in a particular system).
In theory you would save a few hundreds bucks over a similarly equipped system by doing the labor yourself, but even if it's a wash in terms of price, there are still advantages. That's what this is about, really, not having someone else assemble your system for you, like a Dell or HP or Lenovo or whomever. This also allows you to avoid bloatware, which is often used to subsidize the prices of these systems. Personally I gave up building my own system after I did it with a Pentium II 266 (partially due to time and partially due to cost effectiveness), so you know it's been quite a while, but I certainly can understand the appeal and would consider going that route if I wanted to build a pure, cheap gaming rig just dedicated to that purpose. With that said, there are gaming PC makers with some killer rig offerings for around $600 complete (sans monitor), so that's a hard case to argue against, but still, I see great potential in the truly-customize-and-then-build-it-yourself-idea.
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Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[About Me]
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Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.