It has always been my personal preference to choose exactly what parts I want when I invest in a new computer. I have found that by choosing each part I have control over what my computer will be able to do for me. Since I know exactly what types of things I will need to do with my computer, whether it is for work or play, I think I should be the one deciding what parts should go into it.

I have seen great sales on pre-built computer systems. Sometimes you can get a pretty nice system for next to nothing. But what happens in the future when you look to upgrade the computer and you find that the mother board has on 2 memory slots or that it has no pci slots for upgrading the video card. Only one thing can happen at that point. You have to buy a whole new computer.

By selecting each part of the computer it is possible to make sure that the new computer system is going to be able to be updraded in the future. I look at the motherboard and make sure it has space for plenty of memory and other expansion cards. I look at the expansion slots to make sure they are compatible with the newest technology. I also make sure that the case is big enough that it has space for any extra drives that might be needed in the future.

So I guess what I am saying is that saving money on a pre-built system can end up costing more money in the future.

I have always looked at computer part retailers when building my own personal computer. I have found that by going to the part retailers I have been able to find a wide range of parts from various manufacturers and get the best selection to choose my parts from. I have found that New Egg has been a good place to find good deals on a wide range of computer parts. I just order the parts I like and they ship them out to me.

Recently I was looking at what Dell computers offers on their website. Mainly because I know Dell has great customer service. While you can find pretty good prices on their pre built systems, I also noticed that their computers can be customized. All their systems show a base price but then you can choose which parts to keep and which parts to upgrade. So the end result was that I could customize a Dell desktop computer just like I did by going to computer part retailers. The one advantage over going to retailers is that Dell gives me the Dell customer service.

I don't work for Dell, I just wanted to share this with any other people like me who prefer a custom computer system over a pre-built one. Check it out and see for yourself.