4 Ed-n-Bryan
Michael Cash
http://www1.pcdepot.co.jp/poster.jpg) is similar to what I ended up
building. The case has the same number of bays and same size power
supply. The motherboard is from a different maker but has the same 845
chipset and the same number of PCI slots and USB connectors. I ended
up with 6 USB ports instead of 4, due to the case having two
front-mounted ports.
Looks like the same CPU. Same type RAM, except I started with 512mb
instead of 256. And I splurged on the hard drive, paying 3000 more for
the 7200rpm model instead of the 5400rpm.
That motherboard has 5.1 digital audio onboard, but I don't see
anything saying they help you get it *out* of the computer. My board
included in the package a digital sound thingy that goes in one of the
PCI slots in the *case* (not the motherboard). Also included a similar
device for hooking up a game controller and 2 additional USB ports in
the rear. I hooked up the controller and left the USB connections off,
since I was already using those motherboard connections to run the
front-mounts on the case.
The DVD/CD-R/RW drive is comparable. Mine burns CD-RW a little faster,
but who the hell uses CD-RW anyway?
Just figuring very roughly, I think I spent about 103,000 on parts to
arrive at a similar level of completion. Primary differences being 1)
more RAM 2) faster hard drive. A difference of about 14,000 yen. When
you factor in the cost of the additional RAM and the price difference
of the faster hard drive, it comes out very close to even.
The remainder of the money I laid out was for the 128mb video card,
the flat screen monitor, the additional DVD/CD-ROM drive, and the
keyboardmousespeakersetcetera.
So, while I didn't really save anything compared to buying a Sotec, I
probably saved a bundle compared to buying one of the brands that get
more display space in stores here.
--
Michael Cash
"There was a time, Mr. Cash, when I believed you must be the most useless
thing in the world. But that was before I read a Microsoft help file."
Prof. Ernest T. Bass
Mount Pilot College
Hibijibi
> Actually, the ADX2600R (bottom right corner of
> http://www1.pcdepot.co.jp/poster.jpg) is similar to what I ended up
> building. The case has the same number of bays and same size power
> supply. The motherboard is from a different maker but has the same 845
> chipset and the same number of PCI slots and USB connectors. I ended
> up with 6 USB ports instead of 4, due to the case having two
> front-mounted ports.
This thread has been interesting and I enjoyed looking at that poster
(hi-rez, for once). I'm wondering where folks go to get parts -- some place
online, or just your local x-denki?
I would normally order a bare-bones Dell and add accessories I have hanging
around or whatever, but dell.co.jp appears less flexible than its american
counterpart. Basically, I need a separate pc running a japanese OS to
localize web graphics and test stuff. The main criteria are:
-XP Pro Japanese (for some reason not offered on the poster?)
-40gb (plus space for a 2nd IDE drive)
-256mb
-2ghz
-halfway decent video card
-don't need monitor
-don't need CD/RW/DVD drive
I wanna spend like, nothing. Well, okay, maybe 40,000.
best
hibijibi
mr.sumo snr.
news:bi01rr$3mfld$1...@ID-149122.news.uni-berlin.de...
Possible cost estimate for a halfway decent set-up re. your spec. would be -
most prices from Kakaku:
2.2 P4 - 22000 yen
Gigabyte GA-8PE800 Ultra Motherboard - 8800 yen
256 'unbranded' RAM - 3000 yen
Radeon 9200 video card - 8000 yen
IBM (Hitachi) 40 gig hard disk - 6800 yen
You'll need a case - 6000 yen - but don't be surprised if you fry your
motherboard within a few months (or within a second of switching it on)
using something that cheap.
Have no idea about OS - you could always download the Japanese MUI from one
of the p2p sites and then stick that on top of an existing English Windoze
installation.
--
jonathan
Ed
computer. Of course, I was pricing the individual components in Japan so
that might have made a difference.
Maybe my next computer will be a frankenputer.
Michael Cash
belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
>Seems like prices have changed since I last thought about assembling my own
>computer. Of course, I was pricing the individual components in Japan so
>that might have made a difference.
I thought about it today, and since I got 10% of the price back as
shopping points from Yamada Denki, where I purchased all the parts,
that 103,000 to get the parts comparable to the computer in the
advertisement Bryan posted (89,000) drops to 92,700. If I had chosen
the slower HDD and the 256mb RAM instead of 512 (like the one in the
ad), then I would have come out ever-so-slightly cheaper by building
it myself.
>
>Maybe my next computer will be a frankenputer.
Go for it, dude. There's nothing particularly hard about it. I was
surprised to learn that there is standardization among the
motherboards. So all I had to do was make sure to get an ATX case to
hold my ATX board, and everything matched up just fine. I was even
more surprised to find that the motherboard package contained
easy-to-understand instructions (in several languages) on how to go
about the whole process. All the screws for mounting it were included,
as were all the cables for hooking up the drives. Hooking up the wires
from the power supply was pretty much a no-brainer as well. It had
instructions on all that too. There was one 6-wire connector left over
which gave me some concern, but a little googling soon revealed that
it is an auxiliary and I didn't need it on my system. So, like my
weiner, it just sort of dangles there unnoticed and unused.
Ed
"Michael Cash" <mike...@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:b07ckvggm6rgaajvj...@4ax.com...
Well, my 500mhz is still putzing away as if it were completely unaware that
it's hopelessly obsolete and doomed to spend an eternity waiting at the
sodai gomi pile for some hapless gaigin who might wish to adopt it. I'm
hoping that it'll explode so my wife won't have anything to say when I tell
her that I need a new computer.
You know what I really want? I want a laptop. With a decent laptop, I could
set up a wireless system so I can log onto the internet anywhere in the
house (such as the master bedroom which has an air conditioner in it). The
problem is that those things are twice the price of a regular computer. The
new wide screen laptops are priced as if Japan was still in a bubble
economy.