[quotemsg=21446632,0,204033]I don't know why Toms' readers would be so opposed to Walmart doing this. PC building isn't some divine art.[/quotemsg]
I think some of us are anticipating the inevitable pleas for assistance when these machines start failing or people want to augment or upgrade their contents.
On the first point, we're skeptical they'll use quality components, leading to a high failure rate. Perhaps they'll last through the warranty period, but maybe not much longer.
On the second point, PCs are partly defined by their upgradability. However, when big OEMs get into the game, they tend to do things that hamper this very principle, like using nonstandard motherboard mounting patterns & power supply connectors or by stripping down the mobo & PSU of connectors and cables so you literally can't add anything and don't have the needed capacity to swap in a faster CPU, GPU, etc.
All that said, if these turn out to be legit, then I'll eat my words. I have no philosophical problem with people buying PCs at Walmart.