Buying a new computer..., ...what do you recommend? Options

[*thesweetescape*]

Okay, be resonable. Obviously, I'm not going to go out and buy and alienware, and no...I'm not building my own either (even though some day I'd like to attempt it.) What desktops or laptops would you recommend that would be a best deal for low price? I've shopped around a little online but I want to know first hand how these computers are running...I can't afford for a computer to crap out on me in a few months...and what I want is pretty basic: internet, word processor for school, cd burner, floppy drive....if possible, i'm looking for a laptop but if i can't find a cheap enough one ($1,000 or under) i'm going to get a desktop....soooo any suggestions?

[capsule]

Yes, but of course I said it depends on what you are trying to do, for a mac, 256 megs of ram can be sufficient, do you realize how much ram windows by itself sucks up? Also, as I have mentioned before, harddrives are dirt cheap, spend $50 and pick up a nice seagate 160gb harddrive. Bigger monitor also means more deskspace taken up, plus eMAcs are all in one, I believe your system is not, some people need their deskspace for things other than their computer, hence people buying LCD's, though that isn't the only reason of course.

2x more RAM for the same price, even with a windows, is the better deal. also...the only reason i picked the eMac as my example is cause its the cheapest machine u can get @ apple.com. if size was a concern, then i wouldn't have used the value xp as an example (even though its really not all that large).

It's too bad that she isn't the only one who is reading this.

even if there was a third or fourth person wanting advice or w/e, i was talking about thesweetscape's needs only anyways.

I might also mention that IBuyPower is one of those specialtiy places like Alienware and Voodoo etc. Jut there are targeted towards people with a budget. You could easily configure the same comp at Dell or HP and have it be cheaper. The only good think about that is that you can choose more or less exactly what you want, but for the average consumer, that isn't necessary.

IBuyPower, Alienware, Voodoo, HP...doesnt matter to me. I just picked one out of many pcs i could have used as an example. If Dell or HP could manage a cheaper PC, wouldn't that be supporting me anyways? i was talking on how PCs were better spent than Macs, not IBuyPower VS Dell or other companies.