Buying a new computer, looking for advice.

Alright, so circumstances have arisen to force me to buy a new computer. But I find that I can't tell the difference between what's good, and what Dell says is good. So I'm asking for some help. To start with, here's my old computer.

hp Pavilion 325c

2.0GHz
512mb DDR SDRAM
60GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9250

I don't care what operating system is on the new computer when I get it, I am under the impression that if Vista sucks as much as it's supposed to I can just install XP or Linux. I almost exclusively use my computer for iTunes, Internet Browsing (on Firefox of course), and MSN. I save the gaming for my 360. I'm trying to keep the price on the new computer low. The lower the better in fact. Feel free to ask questions.

Any advice would be appreciated.

If you don't use it for gaming, or anything that would require lots of juice (e.g. 3d rendering, image processing, and so on), then you don't really have to worry much, and you can cheap out on some components. CD drives, network cards and sound cards are a dime a dozen.

The main thing NOT to cheap out on is your motherboard.

I believe Dell and IBM both sell computers with XP or Linux on them. The programs you mentioned don't really take much power so you don't really need a high end PC. If you like iTunes (and use it to sync an iPod) then I would advise against Linux. There is not iTunes port for Linux.

I would think a Mac Mini would fit the bill. It's fairly cheap ($599 or $499, I didn't look) and doesn't really have any extra stuff. I'm not sure about backing up XBox 260 games, but iTunes, MSN, and Firefox are all available for Mac (although Safari is faster.)

They have Intel processors and BootCamp so if you end up needing Windows you can load it.

Well thanks for the advice. I probably will just cheap out hardcore. But I'm not interested in a mac mini. My brother has one and I just don't like it.

overspec the mobo
will give you 5+ years of upgradability with any luck

cheap out on everything else