I used to always build my own WinTel box. I would pick a MB that had plenty of room for extra RAM and the ability to swap out processors and that had plenty of expansion bays. The idea was to grow the computer as it got older. In two years or so I could add more RAM if the latest Windows upgrades required it or if I just needed it. I could replace the processor with a faster one. I could swap out the HDD as it died or if I needed more space. The whole idea was to squeeze as much use and life out of the computer as I could before having to buy a new one. I always wanted to build my own Mac too, but that is more complicated, or at least was more complicated, especially getting drivers and what not.

Way back in the 1990s when I still lived in Austin and after Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple, Apple licensed their hardware to several 3rd party vendors. We had five such vendors in Austin alone, including Motorola which supplied the Mac processors. The competition was fierce and the prices of 3rd party Macs came way down. You could get twice as much Mac computer from the 3rd party vendors than you could buying an Apple official Mac, and still save money. Plus the 3rd party vendors added all the bells and whistles that Apple wouldn't. But then Jobs returned, took over Apple, and immediately stopped the hardware licensing. A real shame for us consumers, but tragic for most of the 3rd party vendors who almost all went out of business and had to lay off hundreds of workers.