[rgray21]

have friend who doesn't know a whole lot but needs pc. he will not be building it but buying over the counter or on line. has monitor, keyboard,speakers and mouse and an old outdated broken down pc. he will be emailing, downloading pictures, using word, printing, downloading music videos etc., ebay. won't be doing anything elaborate,[movie editing etc.] or whatever, just basic home pc stuff. like it to last at least a couple of years before upgrade. needs tower with all the guts, ready to go. what would you recommend for around 500.00. needs it quick as his phone and some work are tied into it. thanks for any input.

[Mulderator]

This is a great deal here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883102639

[Mulderator]

I also like Dell. Go to the web site and custom design one.

[Stoner]

You can often find Dells advertised for low prices at this site when Dell runs specials on certain configurations. Some other popular brands also.
LINK

[Yankee Rose]

A word about Dell, though - often times they charge a big fee for shipping. If you can get a deal from them with free shipping, it's a good one. Last time I compared purchasing a Windows system for a client, it was cheaper to go with HP.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/home.do

Good luck!