I need a desktop, but I cannot build it myself.

[euphuistical]

I know its better and cheaper, but as a law student (brag or beat? you decide) I don't have the time to learn how to put one together, actually put it together, and deal with whatever issues I would need to fix. So, with that aside, I need to know which is the best company to buy from, and what kind of stats. I don't want bleeding edge, but I don't want a cheap one, a good middle ground is what I am going for. I would guess 1k - 1.5k would be my target price, sans monitor (and I need suggestions for those as well, I think I want two LCDs, not sure on size). I am thinking it makes sense to get a Raptor drive as a boot drive, but I am not sure on the size. Should I get one that is large enough to hold all games, or does it just need to be large enough to hold windows? Going to get at least another HD for media and whatnot. I am thinking nVidia and Intel dual cores, but I am not sure on which versions.

Here are the sites I have looked at, and any opinions would be very appreciated:
http://www.alienware.com/
http://ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm
http://www.falcon-nw.com/
http://www.thunderboxpc.com/
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/LandingP...M2/Default.asp
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv

Another option is to pay someone from my school's comp sci department to put it together for a $100. If this seems like a good idea I will need suggestions on specific parts (mobo and manufacturer of the video card mostly). Also, what sound cards are good? I am just going to be getting 2.1 speakers and some good head phones.

[LuckyTxGuy]

If you don't have the time, the skills, or the desire to build a PC then buying one is the best option. Also, with the super prices currently on desktops, for general use buying one is a great option.

I think it would be helpful for us to know what you plan on doing with this desktop. I have to be honest, the thought of spending $1k-$1.5k on a desktop computer at this point in time is almost baffling to me. Unless you are a serious gamer or doing some heavy video editing, you can get a very nice name brand pc, built to your basic specs for about half that price. Then again, you might be wanting to do alot more than just play poker, watch movies, surf the net etc on your new pc, we just don't know.

My point is, I would hate to see you spend $500-$800 more than you have to on a pc, unless money is just really no object. For $1.5K you can get a realllly nice laptop, but I'm just throwing that out there. I just hate to see people blow big $$ on extras, features, and hardware they have no use for but don't really realize that until down the road.

Again, sorry I'm not directly answering your questions, but there will be plenty of people (including myself) who will be more than willing to help, just give us an idea of exactly what you want to do with the pc, so we can give you some custom specs for it.

[euphuistical]

I will be using it for poker, gaming, and media. I will be using my laptop just for school work (having to use a laptop for gaming, poker, media just kills my productivity, I need them separate). The games I will be using it for are WoW, CSS, and maybe Oblivion or something like that.

[jjshabado]

tigerdirect. I found them the cheapest when I was buying my desktop.

[buckslayer80]

Alienware and Falcon Northwest are awesome rigs, but you do pay a premium for them. They're really not worth their price, but they are VERY good machines.

[flow void]

I read some bad stuff about cyberpowerpc after a google search, I'd be wary about that company.

[buckslayer80]

There are tons of PC building guides out there that are loaded with pics. Building a Pc is really easy. But with prices as cheap as they are it might not be worth your time.

[pokergrader]

Building a PC is easy, but setting up the software and hardware correctly is more complicated than most computer people think it is. I dont think it would be worthwhile for you to pay somebody $100 to build the computer unless they also would offer you some support, which they probably dont want to do.

I am not up to date with which companies will provide the best product matching what you want, but I will attest that buiding a computer from scratch is a lot harder than just screwing the pieces together. Expect to spend at least 2-3x the amount of time required to actually build the computer setting up the software the way you want it.