[alwrmc]

The HP machine you selected should be a very good gaming machine. It will need a much better video card.
Now as you probably already know, and if you don't the answers you have received with your query here will prove. Asking for opinions on what to buy will get you a ton of opinions and usually very little truly useful information. Everyone has a "XXXX sucks", or a "everybody knows that XXXX is a piece of XXXX" story. The bottom line is that HP, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Acer etc etc are all good machines and they all use pretty much the same bits and pieces. They do cut costs by putting in cheaper video cards, sound cards and power supplies. You can get along pretty good with onboard sound, but onboard video just will not suffice. As for Vista vs XP, Vista is the future. There is no getting around it. Stay with XP for the time being or do a dual boot. The vast majority of games currently available have no need for Vista. The games coming out however are going to be optimized for Vista. That is why I agree that sticking with XP if you can for a while (or dual boot) would be best. By the way, since you intend to put the new computer in a location without internet access, that is going to make updating drivers, getting patches etc cumbersome.

[dungeonguard]

Thanks for the good response Alwrmc! It is one that is not biased! I appriciate everyone's advice, but I will not be purchasing this computer any time soon. I think I might just build one .

[telegramsam]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...reg_R1002_USEN

There's an HP with a Core2Duo and a mid-level graphics card...

The problem with branded systems is that you can't upgrade them very much. So dropping an X1950X into a regular HP won't work. You'd have to do a power supply too.

It was suggested earlier that if you just want to buy a computer and start using it, finding a custom shop might be the way to go.

[Jackiefrost9]

If you want a decent cpu for 800 bucks then go with an AMD system, sure C2D is better but an AM2 system will be pretty good as well.
When you make your decision just tell us and I'm sure you will get several suggestions on what to build.

Definition of Bais: A partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation.
Their opinions are not Biased, they are formed from experience and they are true. If you want a quality machine then don't get one from a big company. Alienware being an exception, but now that Dell owns them i'm not so sure that I would even buy one of those. The problem with the big companies is that they want you to keep going back to them, so they make custom cases and motherboards so you have to go to them for upgrades because no "after-market" sort of upgrade will fit.
If you want a quality machine then do it yourself.

On the Vista subject, well I have it installed on my desktop (specs listed in computer specs area) and it's pretty much amazing. It kinda ticked me off because I had to get used to the layout and all, but that didn't take long. With a couple gigs of RAM you don't really notice the difference. I may double that number though, just to be really really cool

[telegramsam]

That's all true...
Dells and HP's DO have quality materials in them. They just don't really "do" gaming machines well. In most cases, their so called gaming machines are barely competent.

For Vista--some love it, some hate it, I haven't used it. I'm waiting for a service pack.

[Jackiefrost9]

they tend to cheap out on motherboards and power supplies, unless you throw enough crap in the computer to force them to up the PSU, but even then they don't use quality parts. By quality I mean brands and thier reputations.