Unfortunately, upgradability is the niche use-case.  Most everyone that I have ever known after a couple years of owning a computer, when faced with upgrading or replacing, they almost always choose replacement.<p>Because of the depreciation curve, a $500 computer is almost worthless after several years while a $1000 computer might be worth a hundred or two hundred dollars.  Do you spend $200-300 on your $500 computer for say memory + SSD or put that $200-300 towards a new $1000 computer?<p>As far as time is considered, engineered solutions are generally read-to-go, Apple or Windows, but the Windows world still seems to be rife with bloat.  Navigating the hundreds of models &amp; manufacturers is overwhelming for the non-technical user.  For many technical folks, it&#x27;s much simpler to just say, &#x27;Get a mac&#x27; or &#x27;Get a Dell&#x27;, nut the Dell option will be a small pain with navigating the choices.<p>Non-engineered solutions (building your own) do cost a little bit of a time investment in research, assembly and tweaking.  For the technical folk here, it&#x27;s merely a couple of extra hours.  For the uninitiated, it&#x27;s a lot of hours for knowledge that may not be readily applicable to them on a day-to-day basis.