I'm open to suggestion on what computer I should get next -- I'll have it for many years so it needs to be quality, last long time, etc. Also it cannot break the bank.

So far I have came to either getting this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor/9699025.p?id=1218152464094&skuId=9699025#tabbed-customerreviews

or this one
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+with+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+II+Quad-Core+Processor/9694506.p?id=1218150609828&skuId=9694506#tabbed-customerreviews

there may be better for the money, but I cannot find any -- if you can, please share.

For the two computers listed they seem pretty close to being the same, but they still have a lot of variables and I don't know which one is better then the other - obviously this depends on what it is I am going to use it for but  I don't know enough to see any real difference between the two of them, they seem essentially the same -- They have different processors, and that seems to be the main issue - one is a dual core, and the other is a quad-core...also is HP better or worse then Asus for quality? -- so I'm hoping maybe someone here can help me make a decision?

Thank you very much, I think that really helped clear up things. I'll see what other people say, but it sounds like you  know more about it than I do, so that has got me pointing in the right direction at least. But really, this is probably  to just be nit picking at it for what I am mostly going to use it for.. but who knows, it is likley I will have this computer for a long time, and I don't want it to limit what I want to do.

......save the headaches and get a Mac,....great for everything , except for corporate America that is bent on using  inferior computers....i have no knowledge of Lexus, but hear good things.....meanwhile i will stay with what i know works for me.......java

Mac vs PC argument round 234987234, GO!

I've never been able to justify the Mac price to myself but they are fine machines. They are also less likely to give you malware headaches, not because the platform is inherently more secure than Windows but because Windows has such market share that almost every worm/trojan/virus author prefers to target it. It is just nonsense that Macs are only good for looking at pictures and listening to music. Since OS X is a Unix variant a lot of software originally developed for other Unix-like platforms is available in a high quality port, and it is easy to develop software on Macs that will easily translate to other Unix variants. By contrast, running software with Unix roots on Windows (if it's been ported at all) is often an exercise in repeated small frustrations.

I personally use Linux and keep a VirtualBox VM running Windows XP for when I need something Windows-only. I can't endorse this solution in good conscience unless you're already Linux-proficient, because despite great strides in usability there's still a lot to puzzle people coming from Windows. Even after defending Macs I say that if you are on a budget, and your time is worth something to you, get the AMD machine from Best Buy and if there's anything Unixy you ever want to run, install Linux in a VM instead of trying to make do with software poorly ported to Windows. If your free time is abundant and you want to save every dollar, parting out a computer and assembling it yourself can cut the cost down even more.

excellent choice!

i really dont think you could have gotten the individual parts any cheaper, even if you had gone the barebones route and gotten the rest wholesale.

plus factor in the cost of the OS... Win 7 64bit home premium? thats another $100 on top of the $600 it would cost to replicate the system without the DVD drive...

you made out pretty good d00d.

also, take into consideration that the AM3 platform will bee around for a grip and will support the next releases of the phenom processors, which is a big deal to me. my last mobo was an AM2 and i ended up upgrading the processor one time...

and this new board will also save you some $$$ on the power bill, being that the DDR3 requires less voltage than its DDR2 predecessor... especially if you leave your computer on 24/7 like i do. (its actually easier on the system to leave it on continuously than to shut it down)

and back to the 2 models, the intels specs are not always what they seem. the intels look like they score higher in the benchmarks, but that isnt applicable to real-world usage. intel is notorious for fudging benchmarks, not by lying, but by designing the processor to 'win' in the 'synthetic' benchmark tests... if you were to remove the bullshit benchmarks and score both of those processors based on application performance alone, the AMD would come out ahead every time. and that is what really matters, not how fast the processor can render sprites with a 100% load, but how quickly it can perform calculations that actually mean something.

if you get it and dont like it, just lemme know and ill buy it back from ya... minus shipping and handling, of course

This has to do with something cracking from thermal change constantly, or is there another reason?

bingo.

power state changes cause the circuits to heat and cool. these temperature fluctuations cause excessive mechanical stresses due to the expansion and contraction of dissimilar materials (i.e. silicone and copper)...

have you ever flipped an incandescent light on and then off quickly, and it blew? same theory at work here, except one is a $500 piece of precision equipment, the other is a 1/10th of a cent wire of tungsten.

it all depends on how you use your computer too... if you just turn on your computer every couple of weeks to find a good amphetamine, err, i mean brownie recipe, then it may not bee feasible to leave your computer running 24/7 for energy cost reasons, but if you spend more than say (idk where the cutoff would bee) 4 hours a day on your pronbox, then no need to shut it down if your just going to the store to get more lotion and kleenex.

AMD as boog already stated hs always been ahead of the curve from what Iv seen, as far as speed goes I know they where the first break the Ghz mark back in the day and to me that floored me at the time considering I was programing on something like a 564mhz thinking I wasn't that bad off then these fellows come out and double that with ease and kept moving forward.

OHhhhh the fun I could have had with todays processors and the knowledge of programing I had back then.