Consumers Spend More $$ on Peripherals Than PCs?

[exfileme]

A recent report indicates that consumers spend more on upgrades and peripherals than they do on the actual rig.

Consumers Spend More $$ on Peripherals Than PCs? : Read more

 

[squiggs77]

So what exactly isn't a peripheral according to this report?

 

[mattfoo2324]

My PC is 100% peripherals.

 

[Onus]

You could kill a lot of convicted spammers on the money spent on anti-spam software; much more permanent fix.

 

[rantoc]

Not that surprised by the report, a lot of people aren't that tech accustomed and buy the cheapest cheapest machines but they do like the "ohh shiny" factor so they purchase all kinds of peripherals around it to make it look way even when its still a 2-3 generations old machine... (much like most peoples first car =)

 

[xurwin]

So what exactly isn't a peripheral according to this report?

and whats with the video card picture?

 

[theuerkorn]

However the term "peripheral" doesn't just apply to mice, keyboards, and a good speaker system. Rather, consumers dumped money into upgrades such as new graphics cards, hard drives, additional RAM and more.

So, by that definition almost everything shy the CPU counts as peripherals? (Provided it's bought to retrofit?) Quite a stretch.

 

[falchard]

If you build yourself it counts as 100% peripherals which scews the results. It doesn't really make sense to overpay for poor quality parts that are behind tech.

 

[jomofro39]

So basically, more people are building their computers now as opposed to buying already-constructed PCs? Makes sense, economy tanks, so people FINALLY google "cheapest PC", and realize you can build a better computer for less. I had to explain this to my company, and now we all have custom workstations.

 

[maestintaolius]

Not terribly surprising considering a decent mobo, cpu and ram (core2duo system)can be had for 300-400$ which is the cost of a single midrange video card.

 

[liquidsnake718]

that gpu is a piece of crap... hardly a peripheral... id say water cooling, lights, extra controls, super huge heatsinks, dx11 gpu's,xi-fi soundcards, wireless anything, backlit anything, even ssd's and 800+ psu's and additional ddr3 RAM with their own heatsinks to me are considered peripherials, anything that is not stock

 

[sliem]

Peripheral in this report = upgrades to video card, ram etc.

 

[Guest]

If consoles didn't stop all innovation in 3d gaming then perhaps i would need a new video card or ram, but my gtx 260 and 8 gigs of ddr8 is WAY more then enough to play any dx10 game at max settings with very playable rates. I use to upgrade about once a year.
Vodoo3 -> Geforce2 gts pro -> Ti4400 -> fx5600 -> fx 5800 -> 6800 ultra -> 8800gts 640 -> GTX260

 

[Kelavarus]

[citation][nom]liquidsnake718[/nom]that gpu is a piece of crap... hardly a peripheral... id say water cooling, lights, extra controls, super huge heatsinks, dx11 gpu's,xi-fi soundcards, wireless anything, backlit anything, even ssd's and 800+ psu's and additional ddr3 RAM with their own heatsinks to me are considered peripherials, anything that is not stock[/citation]

A 4870x2 is stock?

 

[carickw]

Counting any PC upgrade as a peripheral seems like a stretch, but it makes sense with the economy. Instead of buying a whole new computer, an upgrade is much cheaper, and can extend the life of a computer quite a bit. Heck, I was still running Windows 98SE in 2007 without any major problems, except speed

 

[carickw]

by "it" i do not mean counting upgrades peripherals, but that these so caller peripherals outsold full machines.

 

[rollerdisco]

These "studies" can give them ANY numbers they want. This is a crap story. They probably are thinking your monitor is your computer, and the "tower-thingy" are the peripherals.

 

[Drag0nR1der]

seriousl;y RAM, hard drives, graphics cards. These are not peripherals. If it actually replaces a necessary part of your rig then its an upgrade or replacement... all this is saying is that people prefer to upgrade and maint6ain a rig once they have one, rather than buy a completely new rig. Hell my current machine has no original parts, but I've never really bought a whole new rig at any time.

 

[dgingeri]

according to the way they define it, I've only bought peripherals. I don't think I've every bought all the parts for a pc at once. I upgrade a little bit at a time over the course of the year, to the point that I get a new pc every year, except for the case. They fail at writing articles.

 

[Drag0nR1der]

[citation][nom]jomofro39[/nom]So basically, more people are building their computers now as opposed to buying already-constructed PCs? Makes sense, economy tanks, so people FINALLY google "cheapest PC", and realize you can build a better computer for less. I had to explain this to my company, and now we all have custom workstations.[/citation]

Except companies often like the backing of a warranty and service desk

 

[Onus]

To me, a "peripheral" is anything not contained within the case (of whatever style); although I might accept that a sound card or additional (not replacement) hard drive might also be considered a peripheral.
Requisite components of a PC like mobo, RAM, CPU, PSU, hard drive, optical drive, etc. are not "peripherals."

Edit: They must define "peripheral" as any aftermarket part, but it sounds like those who did this study fail to grasp the significance of people building their own PCs from scratch, rather than merely buying a Dell or eMachine and adding to it.

 

[Anomalyx]

So what they're saying is that people pay more for an upgraded PC than an un-upgraded PC. Pure genius...

 

[Assmar]

[citation][nom]mattfoo2324[/nom]My PC is 100% peripherals.[/citation]
LOL I'm in the same boat since I built my PC years ago, and have since rebuilt and replaced every part in it.

 

[sviola]

Well, this study is flawed:

1 - Considers software as peripheral. Bad decision here, these should be a separate category as should end consumer and small businesses be treated separately. A great gaming PC can cost around $2000 (including software licenses - Win7: 150, AV: 50, Office: 150, a few games), while a typical developer computer in a small business can reach much higher values considering software licensing

2 - The definition of PC is loose, does it apply only for closed system from builders (like Dell and Acer), or it applies for DYI cpu+mobo combos?

3 - Under peripherals, does that include networking equipment, like routers and switches?

 

[buzznut]

If one includes a monitor as a peripheral (not in the box), then that makes perfect sense. Outside of everything in the box, its the most expensive item.
Although without the monitor its just a big ugly box, (not mine of course!) and pretty much useless.