Splinter said:
Custome rig = almost limitless possibilities.
Dell = an economy car. Just barely enough to do the job (as long as it isn't too big or complicated).
Well, I wouldn't call a Dell dual Itanium SCSI system an economy car, just barely enough to do the job. I think Dell's one of the better manufacturers because they tend to be cheaper, offer excellent customer support and provide a lot of flexibility in putting together custom built PCs. They're basically for people with money and no time to mess around with wires.
IMHO Falcon NW, Alienware, Voodoo etc... are a big waste of money. From what I understand, for the most part these guys don't do any engineering of their own. They just buy parts and stick them together, which is no better than the guy around the corner who buys wholesale from a distributor and puts together "family" PCs.
Those outfits are for people who like point and click convenience and spending lots of money rather than spending the time to figure it out for themselves. Maybe it's worth it because you don't waste any time building and tweaking. Everything comes in a nice package ready to run.
Well, actually I think Alienware does engineer their own candy orange and lime green alienesk cases... whoopee...
I should add that Falcon NW is supposed to have really good 5 days a week, working hour, customer service. Apparently their tech support knows their systems backwards and forwards, and when you call you're not talking to someone who applied after seeing the "now hiring" in the Falcon NW window, after applying to the "now hiring sign" in the McDonald's window. All in all Falcon NW and Alienware are designer labels.