<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><br></div>Years ago I went to upgrade a system on my son's Dell computer. The problem was that I couldn't upgrade just one system, I had to upgrade several. It's been six or eight years, so I don't remember the details, but I remember thinking that they had designed everything to be a part of the bigger system and engineered to minimize initial cost, so I couldn't just go to Microcenter and get an upgraded part without changing half of the other components.<br>
<br></div>I decided at that time to build my own systems since I could select the parts and have an upgrade path. Buying individual parts meant the manufacturers could not assume a specific system configuration and they would have to conform to industry standards.<br>
<br>I normally purchase a motherboard with the latest socket and a mid-performance CPU. As the prices of CPUs came down and the performance went up I could easily switch the lower performance CPU for a better one without breaking the bank. So far, this has worked quite well.<br>
<br>I've switched several hard drives out as the cost of drives have declined and a couple have failed. I've also switched the CPU on at least one occasion. <br><br></div>Building your own system provides the flexibility to upgrade as your needs change without having to purchase a whole new system. <br>
<br><br></div>Steve</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 7:17 PM, tom <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:thomas.w.cranston@gmail.com" target="_blank">thomas.w.cranston@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">On 01/25/2014 05:53 PM, Rick Hornsby wrote:<br>
> the old Microsoft tax<br>
You can order a Dell with or without Microsoft. Same price. I am<br>
guessing that Microsoft let Dell have Microsoft for very little. A smart<br>
move that gave MS ubiquity in the market place.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
Tom<br>
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