"Left Nothing" wrote in message
If I were spending 2k on a PC, I would _only_ buy it from a major OEM.
The problem is, someone like Dell, IBM, HP, etc. aren't going to spend
the
time you'd think configuring systems. They bang stuff together for high
volume sales. Their main market is the sub-£1000 stuff, which is just a

See my other post! - It is in their interest to configure and test
their units to avoid costly returns and after sales support costs.
"Bang[ing] stuff" together is more akin to the 10k pa suppliers IME.

Before a new PC range is released, a major OEM will have used several
teams of people to test the product for several months! - Thats alot
of man hours! (Remember they also have access to new techology long
before it hits the shelves)


Yeah, but I'm getting out of their core market - they're not going to spend
much time on the systems that only 2% of their customers spec. The high-end
guys only sell these systems. At that level there are also very different
issues than at the low end. Low end is tried and trusted cheap technology
that's been around for a while. The manufacturers of high end kit won't be
shifting that much to the big OEM's. The smaller, specialist guys are
*only* buying the really fast cutting edge stuff though and may well shift
just as many units. Plus their guys tend to be a lot more "genuine" PC
builders. I've worked with a lot of big tech companies - the bigger they
get, the more money seeking "tech cattle" they attract!!


a