New Computer

[Jim Tressel]

ASUS is fine.  They use good components, pretty much the same ones as Gigabyte, MSI, ABIT, et al.  I've used just about every major brand of motherboard and I can assure you that an ASUS board is no worse than any of the others.

[Farkas]

good for you JT ive had 2 of them and both have gone back and the 3rd one i ended up stuck with as it was a replacement it now gathers dust in a box somewhere , and before you ask they were different models and were bought in different years for different systems

[Krogoth]

I have a gigabyte thats temperamental. It works, but sometimes it forgets the BIOS settings (brand new battery), and sometimes doesn't detect the videocard (while its actually putting information on my display...)

[Jim Tressel]

Sounds like you've had a good run of bad luck.  I don't doubt that you have had bad experiences with ASUS, I was simply saying that hardware fails regardless of brand.  It's just the nature of the beast.  The best we can do is buy a brand that is no more likely to fail than the others (IE: better design, better components, better warranty ).  My point was, to that end, that ASUS fits into that "no more likely to fail" category.  I would also recommend MSI, Gigabyte, Abit, and BioStar.  I have had at least average,  if not good, experiences with all of these brands. 

[Volk]

I personally don't have a brand preference yet, as I have not built my own computer. I'm not quite to that level of techiness. That's what I have friends and family for. I have seen a few ASUS reviews that show DOA or RMA sfter a month, but they usually follow up with saying the board works after that and it's just a luck thing.

[Jim Tressel]

yeah, sometimes you get a lemon, sometimes you get a streak of lemons.  buying hardware is always a crap shoot.

[Farkas]

I have a gigabyte thats temperamental. It works, but sometimes it forgets the BIOS settings (brand new battery), and sometimes doesn't detect the videocard (while its actually putting information on my display...)

i wasnt saying gigabyte was perfect was just saying that i myself had found it better than Asus in my experience.
but yeah all brands are crap just get one with a good warrenty. also Never buy a Dell

[thrun]

I have been using Asus boards for the past 5 or 6 years at least and swear by them.   Not that I'm crazy in to hardware or anything. 

[Turkley]

ASUS FTW.

[Farkas]

Tom is a Asus surporter  anyone want to rethink there stand on hardware now

[Turkley]

My builds are solid as a rock.  Plus they don't involve balance, so its ok.

[gr0n]

Ok this post got longer than I thought...here's the Clif notes version:  Dell isn't so bad; get over the build-your-own-system phase and just buy a computer already.  Everyone should build at least one computer, but it loses the novelty after 15+ years, trust me.

Feel free to read on if you're bored:

We support almost 1000 machines in our labs and classrooms (in addition to walk-ins) and the brand we have the least amount of trouble with is Dell, even though they account for the majority of our machines.  Sure we have failures, but with Dell the overall process is so well streamlined that it's not a big deal.  We swap the machines out and have the faulty part replaced in a day...that system goes on the shelf as a hot spare.  Gateway, Lenovo, and Apple are a much bigger hassle all around.  We don't have HP yet (we soon will though), so the jury's out on them still.

On a personal note, I've owned a wide array of self-built machines in the past that included motherboards by ASUS, Abit, Gigabyte, and Intel.  Out of all of them the Intel (actual Intel boxed) boards were by far the most stable and problem free, but the Gigabyte I had was awesome.  Now that I've become old and wise, I don't feel the need to build my own uber-leet-hawkes edition PC's anymore, and I recently purchased a Dell XPS with my military discount.  It cost me the same amount it would have to build my own, plus I can get warranty parts for it next-day through work if need be (Dell Certified Technician program).  Best PC I've ever owned.  Only problem I had with with my SoundBlaster X-Fi, but I got that replaced next-day.

[Redbear8]

I do like dells, but I am still able to build a machine myself that is the dell equivalent for less money. Until that can't be done I'll still build my own.  Now if I needed several machines for a business or what have you, I'd go with Dell in a heartbeat. They are a decent company.

[Snackcakes]

I do heart Dell machines, like the gr0n said, they are solid machines. All I can say is F Gateway and I will give Lenovo/IBM some props they do have good solid laptops

[Farkas]

if anything goes wrong with a Dell you need the Dell Certified Technician program because everything in a Dell is non-standard now this in fine if you live in a big US city but if you dont that one day service can turn into a week. i didnt say they weren't solid i just said dont get one because they can be a nightmare to upgrade or repair