Building your own computer isn't half as difficult as the OEM FUD will tell you, and it means that you get to avoid all the tedious crap the OEM's put on your comp before they ship it to you.
Anyone who's had the misfortune to use a craputer will know what I'm on about (ie cheap but well specced PC's such as from Compaq etc) that come bundled with all sorts of **** software (like ppp dialers that will only let you connect to certain ISP's instead of giving you a choice). All in all, you will have a much better idea of what your system is doing, it will save you money and you can build it you your exact specifications AND make it easily upgradable just by picking good core components.
I and my flatmate both want to make oursleves some nice computers. We both want a dual Athlon mobo with RAID support, some nice fast HD's and a bucketload of memory. Neither of us are concerned that much about graphics cards, so that'll be a big saving. I am also planning on making a low-spec computer (something like a 400 Mhz P2 or similar) to run as a dedicated Linux server box/firewall (ie it'll just be a box sitting in the bottom of a cupboard - no CRT or input devices needed) for the home network which will entail ethernet cables all over the place. Wahoo! Ah, I think I might be turning into an incurable geek.
Seriously though - if you can, build your own computer. All it really involves is screwing a few screws and connecting a few cables the right way, and loading your OS of choice (which you'll need to acquire CD's for - if you don't have say the WinXP - ugh - install disc [NOT the upgrade disc - this won't work unless you first install say Win98 an upgrade from that. I prefer clean installs myself] then you'll need something else.
Obviously, it's illegal to get the Win98 disc you got with your other computer and install it on a new one. So either break the law or run Linux
