[GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk" <talk at gtalug.org>

| 1. Contrary to my earlier assertion, NCIX in fact has included an item for:
|    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit DVD SP1 OEM
|    Price C$187.99 [Reg. C$214.98]

If you buy Win 7 pro, in a bundle, from a big manufacturer, you can
save most of that money.

| 2. And the the (now corrected) NCIX total price for hardware components alone, seems reasonable:
|    NCIX: $1593.13   PCPartPicker: $1517.98
|    Caution: NCIX has made some hardware substitutions, so the total prices are only generically comparable.

This price seemed quite high to me, at least compared with an off-the-rack 
computer.

Here are some you could consider.

If you go to NCIX's site, and select "Business Desktops", you can filter
<http://www.ncix.com/category/business-desktops-cc-1357.htm>

- i5 or i7 (but the filter seems to let through i3 machines)

- Win 7 pro

Here's a similar page from Canada Computers, another Canadian chain.
They have in-house service too (not warranty service for branded 
computers).
<http://www.canadacomputers.com/search_result.php?checkVal0=1&checkVal1=1&checkVal2=0&subcat20=1&subcat21=2&checkVal3=1&checkVal4=1&checkVal5=1&checkVal6=1&checkVal7=1&checkVal8=1&checkVal9=0&subcat93=4&pagePos=0&keywords=&manu=0&search=1&ccid=1203&cPath=7_1203>
(I hope that link works.)

You probably want to reject out of hand Small Form Factor (SFF)
machines because you cannot customize them enough after-purchase.

You need to check carefully whether they have the ports and slots you
think that you want.  (None has everything to meet your requirements.)

None of these is what I call inexpensive.  But they might be better value
than your custom build.