yeah, felt like dricing a new car from the dealer lot.

This one is a Toshiba, I love it, by-the-way.  Got it at BestBuy.

Are you thinking of getting just the computer box, a desktop?  or a laptop?

If you get something like a core 2 duo, or AMD Turion X2 or similar, whatever it is, strive for a system with fastest possible RAM, i.e. 667 MHz DDR2.  And start with at least 1 GB, preferably 2. You can surely reuse your disks or get a smaller one like 40 to 80 GB, no need to get a 250 GB right away if money is tight. Speed is what matters, and dissks are not where speed is at. Get something with 2000 MB/s bus bandwidth or close to that, DDR2 at 533 MHz at least, preferably 667 or more (when available), and a decent PCIE (PCI express) card. Unless you're re-using existing parts there?

If you buy at BestBuy, get the refrent buyer card so you can get you credit for that purchase towards whatever you buy there later within a year. On a $1000 purchase you might get something like $50 credit if I recall.