Well, tigerdirect.com is just a collective site for different computer companies, just like pricewatch.com is a collective site for different parts manufacturers, so you technically won't be ordering from anything from that site, persay. Personally, I wouldn't waste the money on a Dell, especially when you can put a computer together yourself for a good bit less than ordering it from another company. Personally, I would NEVER buy a computer from any store, ever. They suck. They come with shit tons of bloat/mal/spywares, crap programs that companies who have software deals with computer producers like Dell, HP, Sony and Gateway to distribute on computers they sell. Second of all, most pre-assembled computers have little to no expansion capabilities. You're mostly stuck with what the company gave you, as far as video card (if even capable of having an AGP-based card), HDD, and Processor. There's usually a little bit of room for expansion on these parts, you can add more RAM, but not much, you might be able to tack on maybe one or 2 hard drives, but don't count on it, the BIOS for most pre-built PCs sucks for changing any settings (i.e. Boot order, FSB, RAM timings). Thirdly, most store-bought computers don't come with an OEM version of XP, so reformatting is pretty much out of the question without ordering one from the particular company who you bought the computer from.
That being said, I've had plenty of friends who've ordered computers from Dell. They're probably gonna be the best value for your dollar. Gateway's are decent. I've owned a pair of them, and for a pre-built PC, they're ok.
My advice is, take the time to build a PC of your own. You can save shittons of cash by doing it yourself, and normally get far superior perfomance when compared with the shitcans that you'll find at a store.
EDIT: WOOT! 1000 posts!!!
