Building my own Vs. Best Buy

As of this post there are 85,498 members, 172,844 threads, and 1,520,868 posts. I would hardly say that those numbers represent ALL the computer users out there. With that being said, People look to a forum like this because they need help troubleshooting. There is no real reason to post anything about your computer that is functioning so nearly all threads here will be about something broken. If you were to look through here and see 'Gateway pc crapped out' 20 times you might think they suck but I have 2 of them one 8 years old (using now) one that is 10years old (use for older games) with nothing failed on either, and my comp in sig. I would say build it if you WANT to or if you are picky about what it has in it. Otherwise buy a good priced one and get by with what you need it for. If you buy something online or in a store for $400-$500 you will be getting a pretty reasonable system for the price. Make sure you don't get suckered in to buying a bunch of ram or huge GPU if you have some crappy processor or vice versa that wont allow it to perform right and you should be ok. If you decide to start spending more like $1000+ you can ALWAYS do better on your own, but YOU have to fix it. I have an alienware that is a year older than the one in sig and it cost within $50 but it is the biggest piece of crap for what I paid. If you need help with something you do on your own there are places like this for that but if you like the comfort of just sending it in for warranty when somethings wrong then keep that peace of mind and nobody can judge you for that. GOOD LUCK! :)
 
I've tried to put the same point numerous ways. Manufacturers have a very narrow band they can work with. Basic economics dictate that over- or under-engineering is going to put you out of business. That is decided by consumers. Manufacturers have facilities to run, staff to pay, advertising, research, customer service. They may use cheap components but still produce a product that will last the typical time a user will keep the PC. Those PCs are not in the caring hands of the people that built them. Most owners will never even open the case, have no interest what is inside nor maintaining them. It is the epitome of good engineering; the Model T Ford.
 
I would agree with that, because in reference to most any manufactured product you're very right, but at the moment, the industry standard for a pre-built desktop's quality is pretty low. It's a lot better than it used to be, but it's still really not that great.

edit: Not to mention the fact that even if the manufacturer doesn't overcharge you by much for that level of quality, Best Buy definitely will. I've seen them literally double the price on computer components before.
 
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