Pre-build or self-build...  

It used to be that you could do a lot better price-wise building it yourself but now, the hardware is so cheap that it makes the savings negligible. The only disadvantage to buying a pre-bulit machine is that you void the warranty by nosing around inside it. By the same token, you don't have a warranty on a home-grown machine and have to deal with the manufacturers and chase RMAs(return merchandise authorizations) if something suffers a premature death.

Bottom line: ask yourself two questions: do you have the technical savvy to build a machine yourself? If no, buy one pre-assembled. Also, will you need or want to upgrade to a better monitor? If so, keep an eye on the big dogs (Dell, Gateway, Compaq, HP, etc) and pounce on the first good deal you see that includes a decent-sized flat-screen display. People will argue about the quality between the major brands but any differences are usually negligible and you won't get good customer service anywhere so I say, go with whoever offers the best deal.

While I generally prefer to build my own I need a quick replacement for this machine as it is going fast.

As my gaming needs are not high I have just about settled on a refurbished single core Athlon 64 e-machines system as a cheap replacement.

That will handle my need for now, and allow me to maybe take my time and build a lot better machine when it is necessary.

While the Alienware and Voodoo machines are nice, they have a really nice price as well.

A person can build a very nice machine for a lot less then either of those companies want for the same equipment.

well generally if its a desktop that im getting, i wil definitely get a self built computer, because u can get so much more for ur money if u build it urself. however, if im getting a laptop i would usually buy pre built since the laptop parts are not so cheap to self build

Hello viruzxp,

I prefer a self-build computer rather that a pre-build one. I have been doing so for almost 9 nine years now. I have also assembled a lot for some of my friends and clients. I like it because you can do whatever you want in terms of accessory add-ons and upgrades.

Yes I agree with you for I also think that sometimes pre-build sucks and its too pricy. Some would say its expensive because your paying for the quality or warranty. But I don't believe it, I think your paying for the Comoanies brand name.

If you would look inside almost all pre-built computers you'll find that all the parts are the same as parts being sold at computer shop that you can assemble yourself. The same brand, quality, etc.. except for their own custom made casing. The warranty period is the same yet the price if you compare it is lower. That's what I think of pre-built computer.

The problem is not with pre-build computers... but cheap pre-build computers.

People think they got a bargain when they buy a cheap advertised computer. But what they got in fact is a computer pre-build with all the cheapest parts.

You can buy a good pre-build computer if you are willing to pay the price for it. In which case... it is still cheaper to build your own.

When you build a computer with all the best parts... not only do you get speed... but it last forever.

The cheap pre-build computers are always slow and start breaking down after two years.

I've bought 2 pre-built computers and the one I use now works pretty good. From what I've heard about self built pcs, I think I'd rather go that route next time. Not that I would build it myself. My son has a friend who went to college and learned how to build pcs. He learned all kinds of tricks to make a pc really fast. I'd like to get him to build me one from scratch.

Well,the difference between pre-build and self-build computers is just the warrant.The pre-build ones supply a perfect warrant for any problem of the computers while the self-build ones only supply warrant for parts of the hardwares.As you know,for the same equipment,the pre-build computer costs more.So my advice is that if you are good enough at computer so as to check out what part of the computer breaks,you can build the computer by yourself;if you are not good at it,you'd better buy a big brand pre-build one so that you can enjoy the customer service.

well, i always prefer self-build. co'z i can choose all the newest part of a computer that i want. actually i'm the only one who assembles my computer..