My honest thoughts are build it yourself vice buying one.  You will be able
to get exactly what you want with out the headaches of "customizing" a brand
name 'puter.  Hell, I'd build it for you if you want.

Outside of that, if you can wait a bit, hold tight until we see how the AMD
buy-out of ATI turns out.  I say this because over the years on-board audio
has improved leaps and bounds.  With this buy-out, I expect to see on-board
video to do the same.  This can say you some money if you build.

For a brand name, I would have to say Dell or Gateway.  They provided the
best over all c/s when ever we needed to deal with a warranty issue.

Just make sure you use it in your Ram!  Had to make sure we talked about
dodge trucks, ya know.

When I get my a.s to FL I'm going to need a 'putor for the house. I want to
leave this one here in MA for Sue to use and the time's when I come up. I
don't do a bunch of gaming but I might. I do a lot of reading on the net. I
like a BIG monitor for all the pink bunny pic's. I thought about a laptop
even more when I was trying to figure out the navigation question but have
pretty much settled on a garmin. Thanks to all for your help and info on
that. Anyway a laptop will limit the size of the monitor.

So let's hear what ya think especially you folks in the field. Brand, reason
why and price they go for if ya have the info.
tia

Roy