Most online vendors provide interactive configurators, tools that present drop-down menus of all the customizable options for a given model. Select the options you want, and the configurator recalculates the total price of the system. Since you can't be expected to know all the technical specs of the various options, the better configurators let you click on a feature and get a pop-up window explaining it. All configurators are not created equal, however. Some vendors offer a greater level of customization than others, and some configuration tools are better-designed and easier to navigate.
Different companies structure their product lines differently.
The site also provides excellent pop-up definitions of computer components and terminology. Given the number of features that are subject to your personal preference, it would be easy for the page containing the options to seem cluttered and intimidating. As with most sites, you still have to click a button to reload the page with the new tally. ZDNet and ZDNet logo are registered trademarks of ZD Inc. Content originally published in Ziff Davis Media publications is the copyrighted property of Ziff Davis Media. Ziff Davis Media.