So, you may have heard the term it’s a “black box to me,” and the meaning most people attribute to it is what is inside is unknown, or proprietary. There is such a thing called a white box build. White boxes, as you have guessed, are just the opposite everything inside is known and it is built exactly as the customer wants.
White Box builds are computer systems whose components are off the shelf. They are purchased for the sole purpose of building an individual computer. The computer case, motherboard, CPU, RAM, and power supply are chosen. The computer is designed for a purpose rather than massed produced for a price point. The thought may be occurring, because they do not have economies of scale, these systems are more expensive, and the answer will surprise you with a no!
The reason they are not is called overhead. These Black Box computer manufacturers have a lot of it. Your local computer guy who builds these white box computers has a tiny amount.
White box builds also have the advantage of only installing the software you want. Computers bought at the manufacture or store level have all sorts of promo and trial software installed. Even though you can uninstall the promo stuff, it never really comes cleanly out there is always some little bit left. White box builds are clean installs from scratch.
Many times, the customer is looking at a computer with a high-end spec because that is what the store has in stock without really knowing there is an alternative.
In talking with clients, a modestly spec’d custom build would do great for their purposes. For example, the 9thgeneration CPU price difference between the Core i5 and the Core i3 is about $130.00, and the difference, other than price, is two more physical cores. Is it really worth the extra $130.00? This is the choice of the white box builder, and if the need is modest processing, $130.00 was just saved.
Arnold Consulting price quotes have markup on the computer for, parts, build, test, and move in time. Move in time is a line item on the quote to help the customer move their files from one computer to the other and we are still about 15 to 18 percent lower on a well-built computer.
I hear this question from potential customers, “do you offer a warranty,” and the answerer is sadly no we don’t, but if we wanted to make more money on the computer I would.
In the Chicago area, our company has about 90 systems in operation with the oldest from 2010, and they are still going. In all the systems we have put out, I believe one had issues with a bad processor after testing and there was no charge to the customer. The maker took it back no questions. We did the leg work and still have a happy customer with us today.
Warrantees for Arnold consulting is not a business opportunity. As strange as it sounds, we feel you should not need a warranty. If something goes wrong with a system, we built for you, we will take care of it because your company or your family is part of our community.
Do we charge to fix systems yes? In many cases, it is a lot less because of that overhead issue discussed earlier? Sometimes, we can get the parts covered under manufacturer warranty, and it is no cost, maybe a small charge for some install time.
No slow computer here – Upgrade to Windows10 Pro: If you are looking for a new computer we can build on at a cost effective price. When you buy from us, you’re part of our community.
Buy local!