I have almost always used Dell computers (both at home and at work) and found them to be excellent. I recently purchased a Dell laptop, and am very happy with it. If you check out their website http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=gen you will generally find some good deals. In fact, at the moment, there are some on offer that fit with your budget. On this site, you pretty much build the computer you want, so how much you spend is pretty much up to yourself. I have no affiliation with Dell, by the way - I just happen to like their computers