Compaq, dell, gateway, hp, or build your own its all the same when you compare the same price ranges. The only difference could be expansion problems depending on your case. Even if you have a great computer and spend thousands of dollars you can still have problems with it becoming slower with each use. Things that can help your computer system run better that you can do once per week.... disc defragmenter, removing all the spyware programs that run on most computers that surf the net. Remove the temporary internet files. This is just a few of the big things of many that can be done. Buy any computer that's the best price, no need to pay more just to have a brand name printed on the case.