[TriLUG] Choosing a new home computer

[Peter Neilson]

The box I'm using now is one I bought used about five years ago, and it's  
having trouble displaying Ubuntu. It'll display in "default" mode, but  
when Ubuntu tries to use specific aspects of the display processor it  
fails.

So I'm thinking, "New machine time!"

 From what I can see the new brand-name boxes at Intrex are hardly more  
expensive than the asking price for five-year-old boxes on craigslist.

My specific question for my TriLUG friends is: What current processors or  
configurations are particularly dis-recommended?

Also, the brand-name boxes at Intrex seem to come with Widnows 7 or 8  
installed. Any thoughts? I can't see the use of having it. I've got XP on  
a flaptop and hardly ever use it.

Any other good advice I'm forgetting to ask about?