a personal computing unit: build or buy?

[Pearl Jam]

seeing as my pc is getting older and has been ravaged by gigabytes upon gigabytes of DVDA eskimo porn, ted nugent discographies and continuum, i'm considering building a pc but have absolutely zero experience building one.

i need expert spaceship pilot opinions concerning building vs. buying a pc. i know i can save money building one and i'm leaning towards that, but it requires a time investment as well and i'm a busy guy. lots of babies to kiss and bitches to catch. lots of porsches to do donuts in while i'm sippin on cognac gettin' brain from my main bitch. you all understand, i'm sure.

so can anyone either 1) post links or 2) help me

as for budget, lets say from 1k-1.5k (american dolla-dolla bills, ya'll). maybe more than that

conc, if you're reading this: please just build me another computer and i'll pay you in dry cherry wine and shots of jack.

all i have to offer in return is friendship. and cognac. oh and that kung fu panda game they give you when you buy a new xbox 360 (shit SUCKS)

[Money]

build

[Nockm]

My2C: Don't build your own unless you enjoy the process of building a PC and have time to fix things that go wrong. You say you have zero experience and you're a busy guy already: Looks like a no-brainer to buy one off the shelf.

I don't think you really save that much money these days anyway. Building your own is more about getting exactly what you want if you're really picky. It sounds like you just want something that runs recent software decently; a reputable pre-built PC would do this and save you untold time and rage.

[WuTang420]

build

not only do you get exactly what you want but you know exactly what you have and what drivers and shit it all takes. so when things do go wrong as they always will, you will know whats up.

[Kolar]

You will get a lot more out of that kind of money by building. Prebuilt machines always come with shitty motherboards and video cards.

Newegg.com is a good place to find cheap parts. Figure out if you want a high-end gaming rig, medium end or whatever. Once that's done find a decent board to start taking into consideration newer technology.
http://www.tomshardware.com/us/

[Squeezer]

get a macbook instead.

[Pearl Jam]

Thanks for the help dudes. Yeah, I've considered going the Mac route. Still not going to rule it out. I already have a laptop, though, so if I go Mac I'm getting an iMac.

[Vehicle]

Get a mac and if you need windows use VMware Unity, runs windows on top of your mac pretty seamslessly if you get the Intel dual processor ones (which might be all of them now?).

[roxxkatt]

build
i built mine

mac sucks

[Money]

for that price range PJ u can build a bad ass computer. its super ez to build one too

[Capital Knockers]

I think feeding Conc obscene amounts of alcohol was your best option.

but spike his wine with meth/speed etc before he starts working on it, increased cpu preformance baby.

[Izor]

lol macs, if you want garbage.

Ok, everyone here that suggests 'build' says that because they are familiar with computers and can easily assemble the parts the buy off tigerdirect or newegg. When you build a computer, you get performance that isnt even in the same league as putting in the same money for a dell or hp or other brand name.

Of course, my friend back home...every time I try to tell him how to do something simple working on a computer he finds himself mismatched. Its the same for me when I have a simple step by step guide to work on my car. I'm just not familiar with it.

If you know what you're doing with computers, always always build. You're guaranteed quality parts for cheaper. But if its not worth your time or you dont have the skillset, then buy one. I have to take the hit to my wallet every time something happens to my car...but then again im trying to learn different things about it so I dont have to

[Heroin Bob]

macs? dual boot? um, just buy a PC if you need windows. thats like buying a lambo and lifting it to go off road on the weekends. so stupid.

if you are lazy and have money, buy. i bought my laptop with 3 year accidental warranty, so if i even just spill beer on it, i send it in and get a new one in a week.

[The Unliked One...]

I'm building myself a comp atm, still waiting on the parts though, DUAL BUILD PLZ?

[Vykromond]

the nice thing about buying is that these days manufacturers have very generous warranty offers (and you can buy full comps through newegg and reap some of the discount, though not nearly as much as building)

really it's a matter of what you're going to be using the computer for