Wayne, being unknowledgable about computers, why wouldn't you go with one of the 2 big computer companies in the world? Just curious.

BTW, the first computer we had came to us in '95. It was built by a small company that built primarily for law firms as they needed more storage. So, we had a whopping 10 meg hard drive. But, the thing was an iron horse, best of everything for individual components at the time. That would be a killer dial up modem along with better sound and monitor cards, he heh.

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This is how I'd do it:

Core2Duo 1.86GHz (these are really fast, it'll kill a P4D 3.0+)

1-2GB of DDR2-800

500GB SATA Drive (I prefer WDs, but the other majors are fine too)

Mid-Range nVidia or ATI, either is fine, get a dual DVI with about 128-256mb and it'll be fine.

Intel Motherboard with onboard vid (This gives you 3 monitors)

XP Pro (Get the one with the free Vista upgrade though to avoid paying for it in the future)

Any DVD Writer would be fine, they are all only about $35-40

Go for about a 400w power supply, that's a little overkill, but not excessive.

You could build it from parts from Fry's or newegg.com, have someone build it, or go for these basic specs on something like a Dell and then just throw in the 3rd vid output if it doesn't have the onboard.

Should be doable for less than $1k I'd think. That's how much I built the last one I sold for with the same general specs a month or so ago.

That sounds like a pretty good plan. :) As long as you don't get one of those mini towers or super small things, an open slot and room for a couple of drives should be easy.

It's much easier to pick systems now since networking, basic sound cards, etc. etc. is all pretty much standard stuff.

Same tip with the Vista though, make sure they have a program where if you get the box loaded with XP you can still upgrade for free. (And not to home basic, you want home premium or business)

I'm running Vista on my office machine, laptop, two home computers, and a couple of test boxes, and no major problems once you get around a few little things.

Go with an HP

Yeah, I just cruised around too, and to go from a 1.86 to a 2.13 is $300+, and RAM is about double what it goes for elsewhere, yipes.

On the off chance you decide to have one custom built, I can provide plenty of references. I'd even trade straight across for a Gift Certificate since I need to order some stuff pretty soon here anyhow. :)

I'll post anything that I see come in from any of my reps that look like a good deal in the next day or so if there are any good deals. Sometimes the specials are pretty hard to beat.

HPs are good too, but if you get one, go for an EVO, they are business grade and will last, the consumer stuff is really cheap and I've seen lots of issues with them.

Edit: If you end up getting something and need to pick up drives or RAM, drop me a PM and I'll see if I can get you a good price on something. I can't always beat Fry's or Newegg, but sometimes buying several at a time gets me a little bit of a break and the forum has saved me enough $$ that I don't mind saving you a few bucks if I can.

www.tigerdirect.com

Buy your own parts. you could build a killer machine for under $2000.

Or buy a Bare Bones system frm Tigre Direct, and beef it up a bit.

Or you could just hire me, but I know you are techno-savvy, Wayne.

the main problem with dell or HP is cheap guts
they get special deals on M/B that are limited in upgrade or over clocking, cheap power supplys, cheap ram ect
they try to save a little here and there and you get a rig that is not able to grow or speed up

btw I don't think you can use an on board video and a slot video at the same time as they conflict
but a M/B with SLI [2 PCIe video slots] will support 4 monitors

I am sure someone on this board or their wiz kid can build you a way better rig for the same cost as a dell or HP

those 2.0 gig conroe's overclock to 3.+ real eazy if the M/B supports timing changes that dell or HP donot allow

BTW intel has price cuts coming in april so a wait will save
30% or more on the CPU to free up major cash to up grade the other parts

Okay, looks like nota is right on the PCI-E boards, I can't get onboard and an add-in card working at the same time. The couple of machines I have here that that works on are older AGP ones.

The difference is that the new one has a primary display choice, auto/PCIE/PCI/onboard, and the old ones have onboard video enabled/disabled, so it's forceable.

Might still have to have a PCI card for that 3rd video.