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[Calico_Jack73]

For me it comes down to two things... cost and service.

Cost - This is probably the most minor of the two to me. I always buy the most powerful system I can (within reason) because it will be just that much longer before I have to replace it. I bought a P4 2Ghz Dell in 2001 and I just replaced it this year. Seven years wasn't bad and I still could run most games and software on it. It is even more of a non-issue if you have some way of getting a discount. My company had a 26% discount with Dell when I bought my new machine AND Dell was offering $600 off the XPS 420. I ended up getting a machine worth $4600 for $3000. With that kind of discount I doubt I could have built it myself for as cheap.

Service - This to me is the biggie. If I have issues with my machine I don't want to go hunting through a file drawer full of component warranty information. With Dell or HP I can just call their tech support, give them my service tag number and they can then pull up my system as built. I've never had a problem with Dell or Gateway support. In fact, the sound card on my old machine went out and I spent a bit of time troubleshooting it to identify that it was a hardware problem. I called Dell and told the tech that I did this stuff for a living and that I had already done the troubleshooting. I was fully prepared to be walked through "The Checklist" but they totally suprised me... they didn't. They simply asked to confirm my address and I had my new sound card the next day. I will never forget that! If you buy a Dell XPS system you get the preferential treatment. The person that answers the phone is the person that will work through the problem with you from beginning to end. The XPS support is also in the United States which might be important for those of you who dislike being sent to support in India.

Long story short... Support is what keeps me going back to Dell. I've been doing IT for 14 years and could certainly build my own but after working on computers all day I just want my machine at home to work and every Dell, HP, or Gateway I've had has done that reliably through the entire period of ownership. I'd rather spend my time at home playing games, not fixing my own machine.