I am an avid computer user.  I've had several different brands over the years and I have found that HP Pavillions are by far the most dependable computers on the market and for the money.  It is like driving a Honda Accord vs a Ford Taurus as opposed to other computers.  Though the store bought HP computer was a bit under powered, I have had no crashes, no graphics lock-ups and no problems booting up.  I currently use two different computers this HP which cost me around $2000 and suits my needs for general use, and an Alienware Area 51 ALX-X58 which is used for my heavy computing and I swear...