I would have to agree that Dell's premade machines do offer a good chunk of quality for the price, but the price starts to spiral out of controll once you reach a certain limit.

For example, If I were to make a system that would be used for little more than web surfing/MS office, then I would be hard pressed to beat dell in it's prices.

Once you start reaching beyond the 1k mark, where you start entering the realm of decent Comps with respectible hardware, Dell becomes less of a bargan and more of a liability. Once you go past 1.5k, It's no longer a compitition, building your own Comp will get you more bang for your buck.

People also need to understand that there are gamers out there, just as commited to thier games as any hardcore gamer, that just don't want to build thier own system. They either don't have the knowledge or just could care less about it. Instead, they would rather go to these premade places, buy a box, and be done with it.

The part that I don't understand is why they are so concerned about making "flashier" products for a customer base that is largely computer litterate and can see past the hype. I cannot picture myself, or many gamers, seeing these flashy boxes and buying them on that alone.

Then again, I do know some people who would spend 7k on an alienware pc, just to say they have it and do nothing with it but play solitare....