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The last time I was in the market for a PC the Dell was cheaper than a rig I could build....and a lot easier!
I had to dig a little bit to make sure I was getting a decent chipset. Also the SoundBlaster card was not quite a standard OEM so it did not work righ for certain apps.
Other than that I was happy with my Dell.
Were you to attempt to build a computer using the same parts as a bulk-manufacturer, you would not be able to compete on price. But a typical bulk-built PC uses OEM parts that are hard to get drivers for, a mediocre mainboard, onboard or cheap sound hardware, a poor network chipset, and so forth.
If all you want is a cheap, new PC, by all means buy from Dell or PC World.
If you build a computer yourself, you can continuously evolve it using more carefully selected parts. For the sound, for example, you can buy a high quality Audigy card, or you can choose second-hand parts, like a mainboard with on-board sound. For the screen, you could invest in a high quality Dell flatscreen, or buy several CRTs from an office sale at £3 a throw. Either approach has its advantages; one gives you better performance than you can generally buy off-the-shelf, the other older technology at far lower cost.
There is nothing like picking each piece of hardware you want. Want that 10k rpm drive? No problem. Want a specific graphics card for gaming/cad/multiple monitors? No problem. The best burner available? The list goes on.
It's great for control freaks like me. The next best part about building your own system? A pristine OS install. I love to have a brand new machine assembled in less than an house, load up the OS without a single unwanted, annoying desktop icon, background process or systray app getting in the way.
If you're not familiar with the innards of a pc, not interested in learning them, and usually call someone else for help - a name brand system is probably for you.
The stumbling block for me is the case and the motherboard. I usually know exactly which processor and chipset I want. I get confused by the different brands/features of the motherboards and if they'll fit in the case. I looked into bare bones systems but the price seemed prohibitive.
However, I also find that building my own PC's is much easier in the long run. I spend about one easy day building a machine, installing the OS and software, and customizing the settings, etc. Call it a day and a half by the time I research and buy parts. With the "big-box" setup, you don't have to spend time doing that - but my experience is that you'll deal with everyday types of "issues" for as long as you own the machine. Sometimes it's minor, like a little nag screen about a missing file that you never really miss. Other times it's pretty major, like that missing file actually being important, or the DVD drivers suddenly stop working and you don't have the install disk. Speaking for myself, I'd rather take the one-day setup to get a stable, reliable box.
Just make sure the formfactor is the same. (ATX, micro ATX)
As far as brand I like Asus for reliability. I have had good luck with Abit in the past, especially for overclocking, but I don't do that to my biz machines.
Features:
DDR 400 memory or DDR2 for the future. (no real ddr2 benefit now)
PCI or PCI Express slots or a mix. Depends on cards you have now or you will need to purchase.
HDs - sata is the new standard
Onboard raid, video, audio, lan
Depends on cards you currently have, or what you'll need to purchase. Some onboard stuff will eat some cpu cycles.
On my main machine I have a dedicated raid card, but the mobo I liked came with it, so I just have it disabled.
I don't do much sound - just web stuff so I use onboard.
Video I have dedicated cards to run multiple monitors.
Lan I use onboard.
The differences depend on what you have to work with, what you want to end up with, and choices of getting there. I'd be glad to try to answer any specific questions.
Is it cheaper to build your own PC or to buy a pre-built Dell or Compaq?
Having done several of both, I'd go for the pre-built.
I enjoyed building my own. Maybe I don't care so much now because I've already satisfied my thirst for experience.
One thing that tips the scales for me is the software. When you build your own, you have to buy the software too. With pre-built. youp plug it in, make a few security mods, and off you go.
Another issue is time. I have 4 comps. I built one of them myself. If I need another comp, It's more feasible for me to push a few buttons at dell than it is to go searching for all the compoentnts I need that will be happy together. That might take some of you an hour or a day, but it takes me at least several days.
I also don't really have any special needs for the most part... just regular old fast computers with big monitors.
