I used to work with computers and I finally decided to replace my dead Dell with a toshiba laptop that does everything but make me breakfast!

I'll never own another Dell as long as I live! Compaqs tend to be rather cheap. Oddly enough Emachines are pretty decent computers and less expensive than some of the other brands because they don't load the computer up with a bunch of crap you don't need, ie. 400 free internet trials, etc. HP is pretty decent for the money, and with Sony you pay for the name.

In laptops, Toshibas are top of the line, followed by IBM and Sony. HPs are middle of the road and Compaqs are bottom of the barrel.

My next desktop I'm going to build myself so I can be ahead of the game and build an awesome graphics/gaming/multi media machine!

A word of advice, get any extended warranty offered! trust me! I've seen so many die after the manufacturer's warranty has ended, and they can be expensive to fix. Also, if you live in an area subject to lightning, power outages/surges and spikes, most extended warranties will cover your computer if there's damage due to a power surge... manufacturers don't cover anything electrical like that.

Good luck!