it all breaks down to a few basic questions.
1) price...what can you get for what you want to spend. a rule of thumb i use is always get the most advanced tech you can,it will be usefull longer.
2) use...what are you going to be doing with it? a box for writing papers and browsing the web can be DRASTICLY different than a computer used for writing papers,browsing the web and cutting edge gaming or heavy photoshop or cad/cam usage.
3)tech smarts...how much do you know about computers? would you be willing or interested to learn? i broke my first mass produced pc and learned how to fix it. it was only a matter of time until i started building my own.
3.a)if your not that tech savvy your best bet is to buy from one of the big companies as their tech support *usually* is better.(waiting for the flames)
or at least a local company/builder you can meet face to face.the smaller builders I.E. systemax,etc etc IMHO are geared more twoards someone who can do a bit of troubleshooting on their own.
4)get the biggest monitor you can afford. i still use a 19 inch gateway monitor that came with the 486 dx66 top of the line computer i recieved when I went to college quite a number of years ago.
5)...wait. go to school,settle in and then talk to some of your professors and see if they can't recommend a grad student or someone in the comp/sci or IT departments who may have a well tuned comp they are looking to upgrade from or to help you make your hardware choices.
6)if you still can't decide we can figure out a way to get in touch and i'll take the time to help you myself. ![]()
alot of things to think about but i hope it helps.

Chowhound
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