Top 5 Reasons To Buy A Custom Built Computer Over A Pre-Built Machine
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Hey Chris!
This is David Leonard, and I wanted to send you another top 5. This one is listing the top 5 reasons to buy custom over pre-built computers.
- It Costs Less – Yes, custom machines can cost less if you are shopping at the right places. You can usually go look up the specs of a machine, then find the parts at various stores and discover that it costs less. My favorite site to see the lowest price on a computer item is pricegrabber.com; it looks at some of the major retailers and compares their offerings on one page where you can sort by the lowest prices.
- The BIOS rocks – Usually on pre-built machines the BIOS is very limited, usually locking down overclocking capabilities and some diagnostic tools. A great example of this is when Compaq released a BIOS that did not allow a CD-ROM boot — this was later fixed in a BIOS update. Also, flashing any machine can go terribly wrong. I avoid it because on pre-built machines the BIOS is good enough, usually containing a Phoenix BIOS.
- More Options – When you first build a custom machine, you have a really big area to search and you usually get what you want from the products as long as they are compatible with each other. With pre-built machines, even on the manufacturers’ Web sites, you will find that you can be limited on choices.
- Easily Upgradable – When it comes around that we have ever faster and higher capacity products, it will be easier to upgrade a custom machine than a pre-built machine. Computer manufacturers are getting better with tool-less entry, but it is still far from having a custom case with lots of space.
- Start with a “Clean” OS – With pre-built machines, you will run into a lot of crapware programs that you do not need installed on the recovery CD and on the computer itself — so you have to uninstall them. With a custom machine, you can install a “clean” OS. Yes, you can put a “clean” OS copy on the machine, but you do not want to waste that OEM license, do you?
Thanks for taking the time to read my top 5!
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3 Comments
Greg
October 2nd, 2008
at 5:09am
I’d rather not purchased each component from a different source. For example, I have used pcusa.com in the past, and they are not bad. They give you a selection of parts and will build to your specs. Although, they don’t seem to have the same selection that I recall from the past. What other places do folks recommend?
AG
October 2nd, 2008
at 5:25am
All of your points are well made but the truth is that when HP orders a container full of motherboards from a manufacturer they are going to get a better price than I can when I order the individual parts from Newegg.com, pricegrabber.com or pricewatch.com. These are all places that I use btw.
Very few small computer stores build systems any more, they mostly depend on repairs for their income. The occasional system build is just gravy.
AG
Mike Caudill
October 2nd, 2008
at 4:08pm
It costs less? On my last machine, a comparable Dell was over $300 cheaper, though I much prefer the ones I build. I recently wrote a blog “Should I Build A Computer?” This blog is written for my former science students. I give some different reasons here: http://allzilla.com/?p=663