One thing with Dell, if their customization gets any better. They have refurbished systems, which you can get at a pretty good price. However, one of my friends called after seeing the refurbished system he wanted on their web site. When he called, the salesperson said it was not in stock. He waited a few hours, looked at their site, and it was still there. Called back again, and got the same resposne: we do not have that one in stock, but we do have one that is similar but costs a little more. The old bait-and-switch :). He asked to speak to the manager, and ended up getting just what he wanted, with something thrown in for free.

>I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the safety of a system-wide warrantee. :) I like Dell, but their customization is pretty limited. At least on the web. Maybe a phone call would get better results. Too soon to be doing that, though. I can check stuff out on the web without wasting anyone's time, but I'm not going to call a company 7 months before I'm ready to order. LOL!
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>The thing that prompted all of this is I want to get a TV capture card, but my system isn't really up to the task. So I need a new one. :) I figured my best bet is to build one that I know can handle the task.
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>Oh, well, summer is a long ways off.
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>Thanks,
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>Michelle
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>>I don't think it is that hard, but... < vbg >. I have enough trouble keeping up with the software industry, much less the hardware. So I usually go with whatever PC Magazine recommends. If their recommendation is not exactly what I want, I use their site to do a little research on what other accessories I need.