I would buy a dell for sure. IMHO the people that have problems with theirs are the ones that don't maintain them for shit...I was shocked to find the number of people that don't cleanup and defrag their hard drives, along with not running any kind of internet firewall or virus scanner. Dell makes an awesome computer especially for the price you would pay. AND you get a warranty. I did, however, come across this online site that I hooked my buddy up with a PC (2.2GHz Intel Processor, 256MB Ram, 40Gig hard drive, on-board sound/video/NIC, w/keyboard and mouse for 450 bucks shipped to his doorstep. Only thing it didn't have was a monitor. He's had it for over a year now and has had nothing but good things to say about it. I'd still go with a Dell