Not at all, building your own works out to be way less, really. Look at barebone kits from tigerdirect or newegg, they aren't that much. I'll give you an example, a sony Vaio L series desktop cost $1999.99 or 2k dollars, now look at these parts you buy for a stronger computer: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2782533&CatId=1909 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5659779&CatId=2459 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4111742&CatId=2306 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5471997&CatId=89 the custom PC costs $504.96, proving you wrong, the only thing it doesn't have that the Vaio does is 2 more GB or RAM and an OS, but OS is around $100 and RAM is around $50, so you see, custom PCs are over 9000 times better than bought ones that are built for you. EDIT: also OP try not to use the suggestion i used above, that was just something i threw together quick, and it might not have enough power to support all this. No, you can't even begin to make the comparison. 1. The L series is an all-in-one, which you cannot compare to towers+displays accurately. 2. I originally wrote that you were missing the CPU/MoBo, but then I saw it was bundled with the case. In any case, a Pentium 4 (which was ousted from the market years ago) is no comparison to an Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.66 Ghz. 3. It's "bundled" with a display, which can cost 200+ (more if it's VA/IPS). Even then it's a multitouch screen. 4. You gave it a DVD/CD player when the Vaio has Blu-ray. 5. The GPU you listed is inferior to the Vaio's, depending on which model you look at. Go look at a standard model Dell or HP; you'll see that the difference is much less-sub $100. Blu-ray? on a computer? what a waste, in less of course it can also read normal CDs as well, but i don't think they can do they yet can they?