Buying the parts and assembling your own computer is not as difficult as it sounds. There are plenty of people here (myself included) that could help you. IMHO you can get more bang for the buck that way and you won't have all that preinstalled junk that come with a Dell, HP or other.

MyOnlineTeam Daily Statistics for 11/13 - Active Members

Active team members report
==========================

                                                     Current          Points
Active member name            Rank      Change       Points        This Period
=========================     =====     ======     ===========     ===========
RT                                1          0      63,665,159         116,184
marysduby                         2          0      56,449,813           5,086
Coingames                         3          0      37,240,289          57,933
parmesian                         4          0      25,767,775          28,594
NiceMedTexMD                      5          0      18,291,030          31,506
Dave Bell                         6          0      16,539,732           3,745
nl59056                           7          0      15,437,920           2,288
judson Somerville MD              8          0      15,288,837          71,978
keithhenry                        9          0      13,988,012          13,851
brown chris                      10          0      12,857,766          33,071
Esteban69                        11          0      12,737,269           5,336
Vuj                              12          0       9,055,457          19,324
xroule                           13          0       8,442,763          26,078
Blueprint                        14          0       7,536,584          12,286
Fanie                            15          0       6,865,485             296
frans6nl                         16          0       6,578,152           3,604
sulcata                          17          0       6,308,572               0
PohSoon                          18          0       6,176,873           2,215
darth_vader                      19          0       4,003,615          10,968
Tomwp                            20          0       3,121,360           1,031
Alain Bryden                     21          0       2,988,224               0
finman                           22          0       2,983,960           8,502
lawrencehardin                   23          0       2,922,210           6,281
smcclarigan                      24          0       2,371,774           1,747
Sunny L. Kae                     25          0       2,289,349           2,451
Rene Punt                        26          0       2,262,982          10,925
David Autumns                    27          0       2,261,695          28,705
johng                            28          0       2,037,618           1,437
Wunderwuzzi                      29          0       1,891,015           1,641
Jockin                           30          0       1,771,848           4,117
harry_i_c                        31          0       1,758,459             778
Airwolf_Liu                      32          0       1,534,754           1,094
imin                             33          0       1,324,483           1,359
Bon Kuhlman                      34          0       1,238,869           4,468
Daeloan                          35          0       1,105,260           2,056
elpe                             36          0       1,078,433             434
Mike OSullivan                   37          0         945,128           9,882
Mechanical                       38          0         490,297           1,510
barney15c                        39          0         435,425             561
madambaster                      40          0         408,787               0
Natalino                         41          0         396,597             669
Momentary Lapse of Reason        42          0         379,736               0
pramodp                          43          0         335,633           4,076
mapplebeck                       44          0         302,973               0
cknotty                          45          0         286,794             646
hne12359                         46          0         245,642           3,307
Harry de Swart                   47          0         156,824               0
xterm2232@yahoo.com              48          0          69,164             553
imdioxin                         49          0          66,888           3,269

Note: Active members are those who earned points in the prior 30 days.

Top Twenty active members returning points today:
01: RT - 116,184 points
02: judson Somerville MD - 71,978 points
03: Coingames - 57,933 points
04: brown chris - 33,071 points
05: NiceMedTexMD - 31,506 points
06: David Autumns - 28,705 points
07: parmesian - 28,594 points
08: xroule - 26,078 points
09: Vuj - 19,324 points
10: keithhenry - 13,851 points
11: Blueprint - 12,286 points
12: darth_vader - 10,968 points
13: Rene Punt - 10,925 points
14: Mike OSullivan - 9,882 points
15: finman - 8,502 points
16: lawrencehardin - 6,281 points
17: Esteban69 - 5,336 points
18: marysduby - 5,086 points
19: Bon Kuhlman - 4,468 points
20: Jockin - 4,117 points

Total points returned today: 545,842
Active members returning points today: 43
Average points per member active today: 12,694.0

Many, many years ago, I assembled a shortwave radio from a kit. Two key parts to my success with a task I had never done before were the very detailed step by step instructions and a guide to how to properly solder. I doubt there's any soldering involved in assembling a computer these days. I would expect it involves screwing parts into a case and plugging in cables, albeit often tiny ones. Having replaced the fan in a couple of laptops over the years emphasized the importance of taking it slow and physically laying out the parts you remove in a pattern that matches their source location. Given the money, buying computer parts is no big deal. There are plenty of places willing to sell them. So, I'd agree with what you said. However, I suspect the thing that stops a lot of folks from trying to build their own is feeling that they have enough knowledge to buy the RIGHT combination of parts. I know that places like Tiger Direct sell what they call kits. I've seen them advertise kits for a quad machine for 300-400 dollars if I recall correctly. Perhaps something like that might be a good place to start. You don't have to choose which parts to get, just take what they send and put it together. If that goes well, then one could start learning how to properly choose the right parts.

Keithhenry is correct as a kit may be best place to start. Having just assembled my first comuter it was very important to be patient. I would assemble each night as much as I could before it came to a point I did not fully understand. Then the next day I would come back and it usually made sense. If not I sought help which there is plenty of. I would say you get a much better quality machine for for less with the satisfaction of building it your self. If you do build one with drier weather coming make sure to be grounded so static electricity does not fry your machine!

Kits are a very good suggestion. Also, if you have Skype you can set up a face to face meeting to answer questions and assist in the assembly.