Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Austin, Roger" <rda AT rti.org>]

 I would second both Steven's StayOnline and the Intrex suggestions by
others, but I don't know that it matters where you purchase. I would not
build your own unless you are very familiar with PCs. I am a PC geek
(reformed) and I would probably not build my own unless I wanted
something very specific in it since the savings wouldn't be worth it.
 Frankly, I don't think price should be an issue since this is a very
competitive area. Dell and Gateway are my preferred vendors for servers
and PCs respectively at the office. I have a series of Dell servers, a
Dell laptop for my personal machine, a Gateway test server in my office,
and a whole bunch of Dell and Gateway office machines.
 What are your requirements? You want a basic home computer? Do you want
a laptop or desktop (or both)? You want to do basic office applications
like word processing, spreadsheets, email, web surfing? You want to do
any more serious graphic applications? You want to have a home network
with a server? Lots of questions about your requirements for the system.

 Basic PC: Keep checking the weekly special deals at Dell and Gateway.
You really can get some decent stuff at a good price and fairly good
support. I would suggest something like these might fill your needs:

$1,200 http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/offers/specials_3x_special64.htm
$1,500 http://www.gw2k.com/consumer/expressguide/dealoftheweek.shtml 

Minimums:
 600+mHz Pentium III minimum
 128+mb RAM (256mb if heavy graphics)
 10+gb of disk space (usually 18gb plus)
 8+mb video adapter (current 32mb shipping)
 CD drive and 1.4mb floppy
 High quality monitor 17-19" (bigger is not always better)
 56bps modem (or high bandwidth)
 PCI slots should be available for upgrading later
 USB port support (almost all have this now)
 High quality printer (for output of your office apps)

OS:
 Windows 2000 Professional
  (you will be glad you didn't get a DOS based Windows)

Options:
 UPS (this can really be handy at homes with weird power issues)
 Laser printer (if you serious about word processing)
 CD-RW drive (I don't know how Nileen got along without it)
 Scanner (everyone wants to do graphics now)
 Good tape drive (if you are anal about backup)

Good luck. Roger (in RTP)

Steven Champeon wrote:
> 
> on Tue, Feb 27, 2001 at 07:15:52PM -0500, saundrakaerubel.com wrote:
> > My husband is interested in buying a PC for home use.  Basically he wants
> > the most options for the least amount and is not attached to any
> > brand.  Any recommendations for places online or in the Triangle to buy 
> > one
> > would be very much appreciated.  We know where to buy in Silicon Valley,
> > but alas we are not there.
> 
> If you're building a PC yourself, and want to pick and choose parts,
> and want to be able to do it in a brick and mortar venue, I recommend
> Stay Online. Their site is awful, but has their store locations at
> the very least. They were selling useful PC/Networking tech when the
> idiots at Best Buy still thought there were only two kinds of "computer
> cables": serial and longer serial. :) Oh, yeah, they still think that.
> 
>  http://www.stayonline.com
> 
> If you don't want to build your own, why not just buy online?