Today we continue one of our latest columns by looking at the advantages of building your own computer over getting a pre-assembled one.

❒ Upgrades cost you less. Should you customize a computer on any website (Dell.com, Compaq etc.) you'll find they charge more money to add just about anything. Memory upgrades are one of the easiest upgrades for a computer. Should you customize a Dell online, a simple memory upgrade can cost you twice the cost of assembling and upgrading on your own.

❒ Warranties come standard with any component you purchase, and you do not have to pay hundreds of dollars to extend them to a reasonable length. Most PCs will come with a maximum one-year warranty, and you'll have to pay to extend that up to three years. Almost all computer components bought individually have warranties that are at least one year long. some hard drives have one to three year warranties now, and most memory and some video cards have life-long warranties, depending on where you buy it.

❒ It's not a big thing, but pre-assembled computers come with tons of useless free trials and demos installed on them. a custom PC will start with a clean slate, so it won't be littered with software you don't need. This will allow for faster boot times and smoother operations.

❒ You'll save money by assembling it yourself. You spend more money when a company assembles a computer. On the other hand, if you assemble your own PC, you're spending exactly what the PC actually costs. You could argue that time is money, so it's worth spending a little extra to have someone else assemble it. But it's not just a little extra. Depending on where you purchase your items you might even pay twice the actual cost of the PC, just for assembly. Recently we prepared a costing for the individual parts of a US$2,500 computer from Alienware (a supplier of high-end computers) and the parts totalled approximately US$1,200. Is your time worth $1,300?

❒ A computer that is not pre-assembled by a Dell, Compaq, Gateway etc. is usually friendlier to upgrades. Sometimes it's difficult with brand name PCs to access the components you want to upgrade. This makes sense for their businesses, since next time you'll be more inclined to buy upgrades through them.

Summary

If you know how to assemble a PC, or think you'd be able to learn from a few instruction manuals, it's probably in your best interest to build your own. Some companies will assemble a computer for you at little or no cost if you purchase the parts from them. You will get to pick what's in it, and you end up saving money too.

But if your objective is to just get a computer without thinking of specific components that you require in the computer, and money is no issue, then go ahead and buy a pre-assembled computer. (Dell, HP, Compaq etc.)

Note: All the components found in the 'brand name' computers are sold in stores. You can purchase them and build a computer for yourself, or even let the store where you purchase the parts assemble it for you.

By technical writer, Kamar McIntyre

Explorers Computer Sales and

Service Limited

34-36 Old Hope Road, Kingston 5

Tel: 908-2945, Fax: 754-0920

Email: sales@explorerscomputerjm.com