So I have started looking into a new computer in anticipation of dealing with HD video in the near future. I always dick around and see what building one would cost me, even when I am not looking for a new one.
The other week, I did so, picking OEM parts from a local computer shop and tossing them into my virtual shopping cart to see what the damage would be. Needless to say, it was around $2000 with no monitor and no OS. 6GB or Ram, a Core i7 940 or 950, a couple of 1 terabyte hard drive, unfancy motherboard, unfancy video card, run of the mill case. Maybe I picked a Blu-ray burner ($200) along with a DVD burner. I can't remember.
Meanwhile, at Futureshop (think of it as Canada's Best Buy, although they are now owned by Best Buy), for $1700 I can get an HP computer, with 9 gigs of ram, a Core i7 920, 23" monitor, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 card, Vista 64-bit, etc.
So, apart from total customization, and the fact that the built computer won't be filled with HP bloatware, what is the advantage of building a computer myself for more money than buying one from a store already ready to go? Likewise, what is the disadvantage of buying a prebuilt machine from a store compared to building it myself, apart from the two items I mentioned?