well, got my budget : $600

and now I'm trolling craigslist here : http://baltimore.craigslist.org/sys/ 

looking for a nice fast laptop I can install Mac on and a fairly good desktop sys running XP with a floppy drive.. might as well attain computer happiness if not nirvana, right?

Thanks guys

Howdy titanoboa. Welcome to the circus and see you on the grid. 

Santa, i wanna good computer sos I can play like Zig.   

Lets say I would love to have the best of everything, within budgetary limits.   Most likely I will have 1,000 or less to spend on getting two systems together.   
   One will have to be an older kind of desktop PC that has a floppy drive on serial bus.  Don't bother asking why- I need it.  Other than the floppy consideration, Intel is preferred.
    The other system: I would LOVE to have a laptop so I'm not chained to a desk.   The laptop can be anything at all that fits into the budget and leaves enough to get a wireless router and some USB SATA HD enclosures so I can use the old drives as backups and whatnot.

   I'm not talking about the OS at this point. 

In my experience, ASUS has never let me down.  It also depends on how much you're willing to spend to build your new system.  What kind of stuff do you do on your computer?  Do you do a lot of gaming?  Audio or video work?  Or just need something reliable to surf the web...

I do a lot of my parts shopping on Tigerdirect.  They have some pretty good deals on barebones systems.  Spmething you might want to look into.  If you're unsure of what you might need, I'll be more than happy to help you pick out hardware that will match your needs.

As you may know, I'm looking to put together a system.  I don't know much about the hardware and could use some suggestions.

Lets take turns suggesting one thing at a time. 

For instance,
I'd like to start with a tower enclosure...  kind of like Alienware, with the blinky lights and open sides  (link to ebay item here)

any ideas for a mobo?  Must have Intel!

Woah, Mis. I'll stick to an informal "Hey, Titanoboa "

Helloooooooooooooooo!  Nice to make your acquaintance! 

Welcome to the Swampland community Titannoboa!

Hello everybody =)

Just wanted to drop by and tell you I joined the forums.
I think I've seen about half of you on the grid. I'll be in the mud puddle if you want to find me ^^

Titanoboa