New Computer On The Way

I just finished placing my order for a new desktop computer.

This one is rather notable for me for several reasons. I'm not building this computer. Aside from my speakers, I'm using absolutely nothing from my current computer on it. I'm going back to Intel processors. I'm getting a dual-core system. I'm getting a flat-screen monitor. I actually got a warranty. Finally, I ordered it online from Dell.

Over the last two years since I built my last PC, I've come to realize that it just isn't worth the hassle to build your own computer anymore. Sure, you may save a buck or two, but is it really worth the extra hassle and time? Is it worth having to worry about "Did I accidentally buy grey-market?" Is it worth having to handle your own warranty service when for some of these companies, "lifetime" means "the lifetime of that product line, which we discontinued three months ago?" Is it worth the hours and hours of aggravation trying to find out why your PC won't work when it just so happens that there is a undocumented-but-known-to-five-people incompatibility between your video card and your motherboard because your video card wants to draw an extra tenth of a volt and your motherboard refuses to allow it?

Are there things I don't like? Sure. I don't like having to pay extra for the installation media for my operating system. I don't like that my PC is going to come with a whole ton of pre-installed software that I'm going to have to spend some time uninstalling (although some of this preinstalled software did subsidize my machine in order to get it at a low price) and the way I had to order it to get the price did not allow me to not have it installed. I don't like that I didn't have the option to "opt-out" of the 15-month subscription to McAfee's SecurityCenter...given that I already have it. And I just think it's cocky for them to put "Award Winning Service and Support" as a line item on their receipts.

But all in all, the savings in time and effort will be worth it to me, and that's all that really matters.