|
Go for something with 4GB of ram (DDR2-667 is sufficient, but DDR2-800 is usually not much more $), an intel core2duo with any clock speed above 2.0GHz, and don't get any video cards from Dell or whatever -- you will get ripped off and they are easy to purchase separately and install yourself.
7200 RPM hard drive, stay away from 5400RPM drives
If you want to go with dual monitors now or in the future be sure to get a video card that has 2 DVI outputs.
Don't be afraid of getting vista. Go for the 64 bit version, otherwise you'll be missing out on some of your RAM and you will greatly suffer in terms of RAM upgradability. Vista is not nearly as bad as you've heard (I haven't had a single issue yet, most of the whiners are mac users anyway). Yes, vista uses a lot of RAM -- but 4GB is way way more than enough, and 4GB of RAM is dirt cheap these days. The reason vista uses a lot of RAM is because it is doing intelligent processes in the background that over time, greatly improve vista's functionality and speed.
__________________
|