Question for the Experts

Have been very thankful for the support from the guru's here, now I'd like to ask the best, "which is the best"...

I'm fed up with the endless issues (video driver crashes, XP not genuine, etc) with my current set-up that was built by a "friend" - whom I no longer talk to since I got the "not genuine" message

The question is - for someone not technical savvy enough to build their own from scratch, where is the best place to get a new build with "the best of the best"? Order straight from Dell or Gateway...or go somewhere like Comp USA / Best Buy?

I need a system that's capable of running the new Windows OS, the accounting & tax software I use (oops, yep I'm a bean counter ) , and still give decent performance in gaming.
Am I asking too much??

 

I'm one of the ones who hate Dell, but for:

I suppose that they are a pretty good choice.

However, if you plan to make this a "learning" box, or plan to upgrade in the future, I recommend you be VERY careful with your hardware choices, as Dell will do whatever they can to make it very difficult. They'd rather you buy a whole new machine than upgrade an existing one.

 

Check www.slickdeals.net every day and you'll eventually get a great deal on a Dell computer. If you decide to go that way.

 

http://desktops.computer-systems.computers.merchanthound.com/

If you dont wanna build yourself, here are some great tower systems on their own, which can save you a dollar, just add your own peripherals!

 

Thanks for the replies thus far...it's looking like a Dell in here.

Halo:

The tax software has to be installed fresh each year - & I'm not upgrading the accounting software to '07 yet. Like the Vista, I'm waiting until they get the bugs worked out first - it's not my goal in life to be on the phone with tech support all the time. Last year the TurboTax "experts" couldn't even figure out how to make their software report more than 7 different countries of foreign income....my client had 20

Mada & nitecrawler...I'd love to build my own, but the most hardware tinkering I've done myself was installing usb & swapping floppy drive - if I tried to build I'd be in here 24/7 crying for help every step of the way lol
That's why I was asking about Comp USA or Best Buy

Visited Dell's site & did a modest build with the best "extras" they've got for 'bout $1700

Any more Geeks have better ideas??

 

I would have chosen Newegg to get my stuff but I voted for Comp USA becuase I cant stand Dell at all...