There are some advantages to buying brand-name PC bundles:
> You get the OS and all drivers
> You get a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, printer, etc
> Everything (usually
) works "out of the box"
> Warranty and tech support for your system as a whole.
Then, once various parts become obsolete (or you want bigger/better/faster), you can buy those parts individually. The cost for bundles like this is usually less than if you were to buy all the parts seperately.
The
big advantage to buying the individual parts is that you can get the
exact brand item with the exact specs you are looking for. Plus, you get the experience and the satisfaction of putting together a system... and even more satisfaction if it works the first time you push the power button.
I originally bought a gateway system that had pretty much everything I was looking for. The only thing I am personally using now is the DVD player, speakers, and the monitor. Everything else has been upgraded. The old parts usually get recycled into my other family members boxes. The original system was like a "starter kit".
Lately, some companies bundle OS disks or restore disks that only work on the system you bought. So, if you plan on using the same OS disk for future upgrades, you might want to verify that the OS disk you get is a real OS disk rather than just a restore disk, or one that only works on that system.