server quote sanity check, please?

[Jim Hickstein]

> I could see saving $700 or so without even trying hard, paying online
> retail.  I know vendors have to pay their own bills, but I would think
> that they'd get a wholesale advantage that would offset online retail
> pricing.

The overhead that causes the differential is support.  Many mail-order
firms probably don't have much overhead.  For an extra $700, I would stick
with a reputable dealer I could physically go and shake.  I'd also push
back on the price, but probably stick with the local outfit.  Much above
that delta and I might find another dealer.

OTOH, I have built my own systems from (high-end) cases and parts I bought
on eBay.  I really like the Intel SR-2100 and its later versions.  But I
was probably stupid to waste my time on this.  It was a lot of goofing
around and flashing the BIOS, etc., even with one vendor for the whole
thing.  (And in one of the eBay transactions, the seller _actually died_
after taking my money and before shipping out the part, and I lost $300 for
not claiming sooner. :-O  But that's another story.)