Could use some advice on buying a new computer

[CarbineKid]

Hi
I find myself in the market for a new computer. I really could use some help in choseing a new one. The more reserch I seem to do the more I get lost. I stopped into several stores, and every rep tried to upsell me, and add on stuff I just don't need(really who needs upgreaded speakers when I barely use them to begin with). So now I just broke down, and decided to ask for some advice here.
Anyhow My family and I use our computer to surf the net, watch videos on the computer, burn CD/DVDs, print pictures, and we do some reports for work. Pretty basic stuff, yup thats about it. I am not loking for a power house computer, Im not that computer savy to begin with;) So does anyone have any advice/models to check out? I have seen a few nicely priced ones at Wal-Mart(Emachines), but theres no one there who knows about them. They do fit my budget though($600 max)

[KG4IDA]

You can get a Dell Inspiron with an Athelon dual core processor with 1GB memory for $549. It comes with a monitor but not a photo printer. A lot of people don't like Dell but except for a couple of lemons we have had at work, they seem mostly solid to me. I have a latitude laptop myself and we have about 50% Dells where I work. Yes, you will have to deal with off shore tech support with the Inspirons.

Don't get less that 1GB of memory. There is nothing you can do that will improve system performance like more memory. Don't get a Celeron or Sempron processor if you can avoid it. Even if you don't play games, get a dedicated graphics card if you can. Even a low end one beats integrated graphics in my experience.

I don't know anyone who has been happy with their Emachines PC a year after they got it. I have had bad luck with HP's also.

Dell add ons to their basic machine can really add up but a few extra dollars can also pay real dividends.

[KG4IDA]

One thing I forgot. You may be able to get a deal on MS Office through your employer if you do any work at home. If not then if their is a student in the house you can get a student version through most colleges. There is also Open Office which is free.

[EAJuggalo]

For what you're going to be doing with it you'd probably be best served by looking at the best buy ad on sunday and picking up one of their package deals. You definitely want vista home premium and at least 1Gb of RAM.this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999973500050009&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat103700050050&id=pcmprd73400050009) should be the type of thing you're looking for. I would also recommend Open Office over Microsoft, works just as well for me and it's free.

[CarbineKid]

Guys thanks for all the advice. I had another tech look at my computer and he suggested adding more memory($65), and he scrubed the system and rebooted it. He said even though my computer is old is is ok for what I am doing. I did spend a ton of money on it when I first brought it, and it was the right thing to do.