On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:49:51 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

JohnH wrote:
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.


Monarch sells pieces and parts, too. But if you look through their
configurators, you get a good idea of what works well together.

Once you get the motherboard into the box, it takes about an hour for an
O.F. blind person like me to assemble the rest of it. I would imagine it
would take a slick teenager about 20 minutes.

I haven't put one together since the Pentium 166mhz was around. Is it still
necessary to set a dozen or two jumpers? That was always a fun thing to do
with a kid, let him read and figure out how to set the jumpers. For one
who's built a few, it's pretty routine (or *was* anyway), but for a kid,
it's a challenge.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Not necessarily.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:54:49 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Not necessarily.



That's why I used the term 'guess'.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:54:49 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause

wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building
the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Not necessarily.



That's why I used the term 'guess'.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

I don't know if you have any kids John but at this stage.my son (18 in
April) knows everything. He wants to show he can do things on his own, and
I have no problem with that as long as the results are not catastrophic.

Although working with him putting together a computer might sound like fun I
am having second thoughts about it. He has never put a computer together
and frankly this is too expensive of a project to leave to him to do by
himself.

Regardless of what we do he will have input on the hardware that goes into
the computer.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:12:14 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:54:49 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause

wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building
the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Not necessarily.



That's why I used the term 'guess'.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

I don't know if you have any kids John but at this stage.my son (18 in
April) knows everything. He wants to show he can do things on his own, and
I have no problem with that as long as the results are not catastrophic.

Although working with him putting together a computer might sound like fun I
am having second thoughts about it. He has never put a computer together
and frankly this is too expensive of a project to leave to him to do by
himself.

Regardless of what we do he will have input on the hardware that goes into
the computer.


Well, letting him put it together with you standing by might show him he
*doesn't* know everything! After doing all the work, hitting the button,
and watching *nothing* happen on the monitor, maybe he'll ask for help.

If he get's it right the first time, good for him! If he's never put one
together, he'll have to do some reading or ask for help, or both.

I 'helped' a 13 year-old put one together. It was a blast.
--
John H

"Have a **spectacular** day!!

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:12:14 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:54:49 -0500, " JimH" jimh_osudad@yahooDOT
comREMOVETHIS wrote:


"JohnH" wrote in message
m...
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:43:46 -0500, Harry Krause

wrote:

Jim, you might want to check these guys out:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They have some pretty damned fast preconfigured machines, and I have
found them reliable and priced fairly.

I would venture a guess that about half of the reason Jim is building
the
computer is for the joy of doing it with his son. That joy doesn't
occur
when one just opens a box.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Not necessarily.



That's why I used the term 'guess'.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

I don't know if you have any kids John but at this stage.my son (18 in
April) knows everything. He wants to show he can do things on his own,
and
I have no problem with that as long as the results are not catastrophic.

Although working with him putting together a computer might sound like fun
I
am having second thoughts about it. He has never put a computer together
and frankly this is too expensive of a project to leave to him to do by
himself.

Regardless of what we do he will have input on the hardware that goes into
the computer.


Well, letting him put it together with you standing by might show him he
*doesn't* know everything! After doing all the work, hitting the button,
and watching *nothing* happen on the monitor, maybe he'll ask for help.

If he get's it right the first time, good for him! If he's never put one
together, he'll have to do some reading or ask for help, or both.

I 'helped' a 13 year-old put one together. It was a blast.
--
John H

"Have a **spectacular** day!!


Something to consider and we may still do it.

My daughter was not demanding on what she wanted in her computer and we
bought her a Dell for her HS graduation gift. She still loves it.

My son however knows quite a bit more than her about computers and his needs
(which are far more demanding). So the custom build route seems to be the
way to go. ;-)