1) Do you prefer to build your own PC’s or buy a branded system?
a) Prefer to build my own
I always build my own whenever possible. There is nothing more satisfying than research and marrying components together to create a dedicated powerhouse of peripherals and processing power!
2) How often do you replace or upgrade your PC?
c) 18 months – 2 years
I used to upgrade 6 months to a year, but time, money and family brought that to a halt

Now it's about every 2 years (sometimes 3 as I now also get a company stipen for these sorts of things yay) but upgrading to the latest and greatest I've found can also lead to more $ spent when you try and adopt OS's and hardware that isn't quite tried and true yet. Still, I like building and buying systems that get me the most bang for my buck and that I can still upgrade over time to keep current or squeeze that extra bit of power out of. Tech shouldn't just be throw away, it should last you.
3) How important do you feel an SSD is to system performance?
a) Extremely important
I use an SSD at work and being in IT, I not only have a dozen apps open at once, but they are resource intensive. I also have to be able to get into my system at the drop of a hat should something mission critical come up. An SSD allows me to boot to Win 7 in about 10 seconds, and then launch my hungry apps within seconds as well. Power consumption is also significantly reduced and I can pound away at my system while it crunches in the background without having more power drawn by spinning platters. SSD for the win!