Off the shelf, I'd go with Dell. I'm much more into software than hardware, so I can't help with CPU's, etc. I do know that Athlons run hot. One of my co-workers is more into hardware than I am and he has a lot of problems with his Athlon running hot and he has a very good cooling fan attached to it. I've heard XP Professional runs better than XP Home edition but don't have hard proof myself. I'm about to flip over to XP Pro from W* ME. I hope it'll make my system more stable. (Know why it's called W* ME? F* ME was too obvious!) If price is no object, I'd go with dual monitors, flat screen if you're really rich. In another year, I may trade in my 19" and go with 2 17" flat screens, depending on price. Feel free to let us know what you ended up with so we can hate your guts! ;-)