Hi Michelle,

You could get the machine from dell with as many things as you can and then purchase the additional hw on your own and add it.

My advice is that you find a local store that will build it for you (stay away from brand names). I have found this to be the MOST reliable way to get a computer and especially get service for it.

I used to have customers buy from Dell and gateway and still call me when things went wrong - their next-day warranties are a joke; sure, they'll send someone the next day. That is, the next day after you already spent a whole day on the phone doing stupid tests.

I agree that they should do this with most users, but heck, at the time I was doing hardware support pretty much fulltime and by the time I called I already knew EXACTLY what was wrong.

I have a relationship with a local vendor and knowing me, he knows that if I tell him something's wrong, I already went through several hours of trying things myself so he just picks up the computer or sends someone to fix it.

If you're not eager to get your fingers cut, I suggest you look into USB accessories. They're reliable and are not too likely to break things when not configured properly. Plug & Pray has never been my cup of tea - give me one board with jumper settings over 100 p'n'p cards anyday!

If you have clients in your area, you could ask them where they get their computers.

Good luck!

Alex

PS: if you want to watch tv on the computer I suggest you get a tv set. Easier and much cheaper! ;-)

>I'm planning on getting a new computer sometime between now and next August. Probably closer to August, but I like to dream with my keyboard, so I'm jumping the gun. :)
>
>Anyway, I was going to get a Dell, but they are really restrictive about what combinations of things you can get. Plus, I want some stuff in my computer that they don't sell. I was thinking of building one myself, but I've never been good with hardware. So I was curious if anyone knows any URLs to reliable, reasonably priced places that will build a computer and put what you want in it?
>
>Once again, the reason I'm coming here and not going to a search engine is the "reliable" part. I prefer the experince of people I "know" to a mindless search engine. :)
>
>Thanks,
>
>Michelle