In the twelve years I have working with PCs I have bought three retail desktops and built seven for my own use. I have worked with clients on both types of machines. I can honestly say, based on personal experience, the retail models are far more frustrating.
These machines often come equipped with proprietary hardware, and case specifications that may prohibit upgrades with hardware from another vendor. They often come loaded with software packages you can't use. I spend hours trying to remove all the "free trials", and every uninstall carries a risk that I might uninstall something crucial to the smooth operation of my system.
Top these issues with the latest trend: many makers no longer provide the actual discs needed to install/reinstall the software "included" in the package. Bad enough that all the manuals are "online", now the recovery set is actually in a hidden partition on your harddrive. If the harddrive fails t's not possible to recover your original factory condition.
While a custom built machine may often be a more expensive solution, you have the complete knowledge of your system's hardware specifications. You pick the size of the harddrive, how much RAM is installed, which video card or sound card is used.
You pick which software is to be installed. You have the disks, should you ever need to repeat the installation, and you have the option of "hard copy" manuals. Your 120GB harddrive is fully yours and fully accessible, rather than showing you have up to a possible 5% allocated to the hidden recovery partition and another 10% to 20% already used by the vendor's software choices.
You can find just about anything on the internet. You can make reservations for dinner, buy a new suit, shoes, and tickets to the show. Or you can stay in, order pizza and rent a movie. You can attend a class, research and write a book. Then you can sell it!
There are search engines like Google, and Yahoo, and Lycos. There are online resources such as Travelocity, and Mapquest. Online you have access to museums, libraries, universities... The list keeps growing. And there are only so many hours in your day.
I can help you research online for your current project, whether it be your dinner, your vacation, or your term paper (I won't write it for you, but I will help you find your resources). I can help you set up a list of favorite starting points, whether you are looking for old time radio shows, or a recipe for chicken soup and noodles. I even know of a place online where you can buy a spinning wheel, raw wool, and learn how to use them!
Web Site Design & Maintenance
It seems as though everyone has a webpage, today. Grandma's has a page to
show off the pictures of her grandbabies. Uncle Tom has a page to sell his
beef jerkey. The neighbor has a weblog about his video games. Are you wondering
what all the fuss is about? Do you have a business and you would like to reach a larger market? Do you need to create an intranet for your employees to use?
Or do you already have a website, but it's not reaching your target audience? Or perhaps it's out of date? Would you like to add more to it? Or perhaps you feel it's just too much for you to manage yourself with your busy schedule...
Website design and maintenance is one of my favorite occupations! I love working with layout, color, and code. I can help you set up a new site, or remodel an existing site. And if you have a busy schedule, I can help you keep your site current by performing the maintenance needed.
I can set up a BLOG or a message board for you. Links can be added to enhance the content. Or your pages can be used to create new templates for additions to be added at a later date without straining the current design.
More Information:
Need new business cards, or a new letterhead? Are you planning an event and want to send out a newsletter or invitations in keeping with your theme? How about announcements (a graduation, or wedding, a new house... a baby)?
I have tons of clip art and fonts. Or I can scan your photos or original artwork and we can use the results. I can add your unique personal touches to your html-based e-mail stationary. It's all digital: everything can be stored on diskette or CD for more prints later.
Print your business cards as you need them. Create a letterhead, and use it whenever you need, on whichever paper you choose with your printer at anytime. Customize invoices, mailing labels, envelopes with the graphics you use on your business cards.