From personal experience, like your comment, Lixy. Computers are like cars....two people can buy the same computer and one can work perfectly and the other can be a total lemon.

I have heard alot of good reports about Dells. IBM's come in a close 2nd to what I have heard.

If this is gonna be their main computer the best bet is to go with a pre-packaged one. Preferrably a newer one so that they will be able to call immediately and get help to keep it running if something goes wrong.

For personal reasons of working on them, I don't like HP's because they are very proprietary on different things.

But as far as desktops, she should be able to get a fairly good one for under 1000. The price of them have dropped dramatically in the past couple of years. Not that long ago, I saw an add for a Sony Vaio for under 900. That is the one I wish I had the money at the time to buy. Laptops will run you a little more, but she will be able to take it with her when she leaves her dorm to head home so doesn't have to worry about it coming up missing.

Hope this helps you some.