Is it worth buying brand desktop computers or should I just make my own dekstop (buy components seperately)?

Answer 1

It is about $100 cheaper to buy a factory-built computer to your own specifications. The factory will match power / clocking / graphics better than you can do for your first build. I've worked the assembly floor at Dell. I wouldn't buy from Dell, they use for their the workforce more than half temporary workers.

After that, I don't know what manufacturer to recommend. I bought from a German assembly plant. It came with a 3-year warranty. I saved $200 by ordering it without Vista. Instead I installed Linux. They shipped the machine with FreeDOS on the hard drive. 4-Gig RAM, 200-gig Harddrive, 3800 kz AMD single core with a middle of the line nVidia graphics card with 1 gig of onboard memory. Paid just under $700. Use that as a comparision. I love this machine. It's the best I've ever run and I've built more than 8 machines personally. I built over 1,000 for Mr. Michael in Austin.

Answer 2

There are benefits to both. You can usually save money by building it yourself if you are building a mid-range or high-end system (over $1,500) but below that, the OEM's can build it for you cheaper. Other huge advantages of buying from a OEM (like Dell, HP, etc.) is that they usually come with warranties that can be as long as 3 or 5 years. If you build it yourself, you're rarely get a warranty longer than 90 days, and you'll have to figure out what is wrong and send that particular part back and wait until they send a replacement. Finally, you need to know what you're doing to build it yourself. If you've never done it before, it is easy to make mistakes, get incompatible equipment, design a system where one component is much faster or slower than the rest of the system, etc.

That is not to say that you should never build your own system. I have built hundreds of systems, and also bought hundreds of systems over the years. I love to build them and tweak the exact parts I need.

I find Dell a great compromise, where you choose a base model and then tweak it with the different options that you want. Need a faster CPU - choose it, massive video card - choose it, etc.

Answer 3

I've done both. My last few systems I build myself but once I got all the parts together I found similar systems already assembled for less--but these had no better warranty than those I build. Since I do 90% of the repairs, I prefer to build my own. If you're up for that, go for it but the warranty can be a big help when something goes wrong. Of course, the individual components have short warranties that should cover DOA issues.

Answer 4

I personally dont buy preassembled PC's from Dell or HP etc.

I like to know what Im getting and what options I have. Usually with Dell and such you get suckered into an expensive warranty plus shipping and a bunch of crap software you dont need. It will cost more to build your own but you get a better PC, I wouldnt recommend this option unless you know someone that can build it. I assume you cant from you simply asking about it. Most IT professionals build there own.

Research is key here, visit websites that review the latest and greatest toys and ask for help from the PC source you are buying from.

Answer 5

i'd say build your own, cuz its fun.

personally, when i build computers it always get components that are upgradeable

my motherboard for instance, could handle more ram and a faster processor so if i decide to upgrade later on, i wouldn't need to buy a new one.

tigerdirect.com always have good deals, but always shop around.

Answer 6

Hi. It's a lot more fun to build one! And you can make it however you like.

Answer 7

depends what you use it for, any computer is okay if all you do is mostly word processing and internet browsing, gaming usually requires higher performance.