New computer

[INTRIGUED]

If I gave you $1000 bucks right now. What would you get?

[twack]

id probably try out one of those mini laptops, but they only cost about 300. id keep the rest of the money

[GREASEMONKEY]

Id take the money and head out to micro center where you could build a new PC for less then half of that..

[Kracka]

I'd spend $450 on another Compaq laptop, add more RAM, and pocket $500.

[scheides]

Depends. I'd say MacBook, but I already have one. Best computer I've ever owned, LOVE IT.

Option two: Asus EEEPC (micro laptop). Perfect for logging/tuning, these things are about $350 and are ultra portable.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct.asp?PID=NBMINI-ASUS&updepts=NB-MINI&DNAME=Notebooks+-+Mini

Option three: what kracka said. $500 HP or Compaq special from Best Buy and keep the change.

[Matt D.]

Lian Li case
600+ watt modular power supply
Intel E8400 Core2 Duo processor
Intel P35 chipset motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
500GB+ SATA hard drive, maybe a second and mirror them depending on cost
Nvidia 9800GT video card

Might even have enough left over for 22" LCD.

[Kracka]

Option three: what kracka said. $500 HP or Compaq special from Best Buy and keep the change.
Circuit City actually, generally better deals than Best Buy along with better salesmen. I even got a free bag, printer, and some software with mine.

[crazy_skier]

i like circuit city to, since you can barter with the dudes! haha.

I would also say spend $5-600 on a comp. from circuit, and then you will have some left over so you could do something like more ram and still have fun money.

[OmgAwd]

I'd get an old pos and aem ems.

But seriously I'd get an amd 3800+
4gig of DDR2
VIA board
TweakUI
clocking software.
Many fans

[SnoEclipse]

$250-300 on a 22 or 24 inch monitor, reserve another $200 for a decent case, fans, and 600 watt+ power supply.

Keyboards and mice are cheap. If you really need new ones $50- should be enough.

Dual-layer DVD/RW drives are $30- each. Don't bother with a Blue-Ray drive, those things are still over $300-.

Pick up an ATi 48xx graphics card.

1Tb drives are $100 each. For that same $100 you could probably get a pair of 500Gb drives which you can then mirror for safety/performance.

Now with the left over, buy as much cpu/ram/mobo as you can. 3 Gig dual or even quad core chips are running about $200 these days. Ram is always on sale for around $15- per gigabyte. I'm partial to Intel mini-ATX mobos, rock solid, etc, etc.

Buy at Microcenter and/or General Nanosystems. At General Nano you can have them work up a quote for you based on a few parameters:

Preferred monitor size
Preferred video card
Preferred cpu
4 Gb ram

Just figure out those 4 details and let them work up the quotes. GNS can do same day assembly and delivery.......