PC Parts Dilema

Well, late at night again and sitting here thinking. Yes, i know, that is something that shouldn't be done often as it tends to be very dangerous.

Tonight i have been looking around for a friend who is wanting to upgrade their computer. So far i have visited over 15 online stores that can supply to this area. To put it very politely i have become very confused and really havn't worked out which way to go for this friend.

My dilema was rather simple to start with. They need a simple system without all the nice and fancy stuff that seems to be commonplace now.

From the 15 sites that i visited i was only able to compare about 3 different mainboards on price as each company seemed to have their own brand or they stocked a totally different range of models etc. Each company raved about how their model of motherboard was the best but not one of them actually stipulated why that was the case. Each one said that they can outperform the other without showing proof that this is the case.

My simple and modest opinion is this. If a manufacturer is able to say that they are the best why don't they prove it. Why don't they show a comparison between different brands or models and why they can outperform the other model etc. Most car manufacturers are able to physically show that their car is better because of XYZ readings achieved on a standard test track using standards that ALL manufacturers must match with. Some of these computers are used in a situation where it can easily be considered life and death.

A good case in this is a common brand of machine is used in a medical monitoring situation. I have heard of at least 2 cases within the last 3 months where a brand new machine (under 12 months old) has suffered a serious failure. This serious failure is rather simple - a complete Hard Drive collapse. Both of these machines where shown to not be in a situation that could have in any way created or caused a failure. To resolve the situation and get the computer back into a situation of being able to maintain the most important job of all - keeping someone alive - the technician had to physically go to a local computer store and buy a new hard drive for these machines. To avoid this issue happening again he chose a completely different brand of hard drive. Making matters seem even worse was the fact that the original hard drive performed only 1/3 as good as the replacement unit. It seems that the manufacturer didn't actually check and rate the performance of its units. To this date both machines are still working better than they did from the first day they where turned on.

Well my ramblings have again probably upset some people but at times i need to vent my frustrations. I simply have to ask the question though after all this - Why can't a computer manufacturer actually state and prove why you should buy their product instead of making all the unfounded promises and false impressions gained by fancy boxes and images. Why should we believe anything that is said on the box when all it is - in my opinion - is simply someone who thinks that they can make up some fancy words and draw some fancy pictures to make me buy.