I really like playing games on my laptop, but frankly I'm getting a little fed up with my ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 card.  My parents bought me this computer for school and I'm thinking about getting a better option to keep at home.  The main problem I have is that I have no idea what a good machine is.  I don't know the difference from one graphics card or motherboard from the next.  I was hoping I could get a little advice on what to purchase.  I don't have any preferences except I want to spend under or around $1000.  I know really good PCs costs a couple thousand but thats not what I'm looking for.  Im just looking for something to give me good, not great, results.  I've been looking at three models so far, but suggest others if these are no good.
Alienware Aurora
Dell XPS 625
Ultra Optimized Gaming PC (This is the one Crysis Warhead was built around).
Once again feel free to point out a better PC.  Oh, and the main game I'm interested in is Left 4 Dead.

If I were you, I'd avoid buying a Dell, Alienware or any other pre built.  At least go with a site LIKE (but not necessarily that site, as my friends had problems with them) Cyberpower Inc.

Take the time and do your research.  Even if you don't build the PC yourself, it'll help you operate the PC better if you know what you're buying.

For $1000 you could build a very great PC, but you'll throw a lot of that money away if you buy a Dell or Alienware.  Even if it comes down to you buying those same parts but putting it together yourself, you'll save a lot of money.

Most cases buying off the rack ends up being more expensive in the price and performance ratio..
Best is to ask a friend or a family member who has built their own computer for help..these days it shouldn't be hard to find someone like that...

"Most cases buying off the rack ends up being more expensive in the price and performance ratio..Best is to ask a friend or a family member who has built their own computer for help..these days it shouldn't be hard to find someone like that..."

You save a few hundred dollars by building it yourself and you will be able to build more in the future. There are alot of famous sites online to get really dirt cheap prices online.

http://www.newegg.com is where you want to shop.

I'd recommend something such as:
Intel Core2Duo E7400 - Processor
2gb DDR2-800 Corsair XMS2 or something along those lines - RAM
512mb Sapphire or Palit 4850/4870 (ATI Radeon) - graphics card
Whatever size HDD you want.. I recommend Seagate as a brand.
Asus P5Q/Gigabyte P43 - motherboard
All the other little bits you can choose yourself. Monitor I would recommend anything you want from Samsung or LG.

Once you've got all the bits you want, take them to a computer store and pay them $50 to put it all together for you.

All the computers you've listed aren't as good as that. That said, if you absolutely had to buy it pre-built, get the "Ultra Optimized Gaming" one. It's not too bad for the price.

Build your own, buying one is ridiculously overpriced.

I'm writing on an XPS right now, and I tend to agree with what's been said so far.  The only caveat being the warranty.  Depending on the sort of ware and tear you put your rig through, the warranty can be a major boon when shit goes awry.  Then again, I imagine there are those people who would say that the problems are due to poor manufacturing, but that's hard to judge.

I'm an avid member of the 'build-your-own' club. I just finished building a new PC actually.  Since my post a few minutes ago I've had a good look at that Ultra Optimized Gaming computer and it really isn't too bad at all for the cash. If you really, really can't be bothered going through the hassle of getting all the parts etc, just buy that, a monitor and I guarantee you will be satisfied.

You will get a bunch of people here (as you already have) telling you to build your own and while I generally agree with them, I understand how daunting the whole task can be. As easy as people here might lead you to believe putting a PC together is, it's much easier to have it already made with your OS installed.

My 2 cents.

I've recommended pre-built systems by IBuyPower and such to others in the past if that person is basic computer savvy. However if they are computer illiterate for the most part and don't know what a graphics card is or a hard drive then they would be best off with a pre-built machine from Dell or something as they can support them; that is unless they have tech savvy friends/family that would help with problems. As the warrantys from the "Gamer" custom built shops aren't the best compared to something usually simpler  for the home user like Dell or HP.

I would say to build one from scratch, you generally get good prices that way.

Shop around heaps and do a lot of research. Take a look around at review sites for hardware - Tom's Hardware.com is really good. That way you can get an idea of what a good system is.

Or you could look up gaming computers on youtube and check other peoples systems to get an idea.

Hmm guys, it seems like hes pretty low on experience and the blanket response of "build your own" doesnt always work and can be more hassle than its worth. Like for myself I wouldnt dream of buying a prebuilt but then again I waste way too much of my life following hardware. Its not too hard to get a decent prebuilt I'd think. I can give you rough specifications ,oh and thousands of dollars isnt necessary to be honest thats just the stigmata attached to PCs.

If you decide to try to get more into PC hardware try to focus on the CPU , Graphics Card and RAM as your main components, as they are the biggest pieces.

I used to have one of these.A little old but its ahead of its time.It should play crysis on ultra high.

"Hmm guys, it seems like hes pretty low on experience and the blanket response of "build your own" doesnt always work and can be more hassle than its worth. Like for myself I wouldnt dream of buying a prebuilt but then again I waste way too much of my life following hardware. Its not too hard to get a decent prebuilt I'd think. I can give you rough specifications ,oh and thousands of dollars isnt necessary to be honest thats just the stigmata attached to PCs.If you decide to try to get more into PC hardware try to focus on the CPU , Graphics Card and RAM as your main components, as they are the biggest pieces."

"I've recommended pre-built systems by IBuyPower and such to others in the past if that person is basic computer savvy. However if they are computer illiterate for the most part and don't know what a graphics card is or a hard drive then they would be best off with a pre-built machine from Dell or something as they can support them; that is unless they have tech savvy friends/family that would help with problems. As the warrantys from the "Gamer" custom built shops aren't the best compared to something usually simpler  for the home user like Dell or HP."

"If I were you, I'd avoid buying a Dell, Alienware or any other pre-built.  Take the time and do your research.  Even if you don't build the PC yourself, it'll help you operate the PC better if you know what you're buying.HitmanAgent47 said:
"

"You save a few hundred dollars by building it yourself and you will be able to build more in the future. There are alot of famous sites online to get really dirt cheap prices online. "

"Build your own, buying one is ridiculously overpriced."

Thanks for all the advice.  I was expecting that building my own PC would be more expensive than buying one off of the shelf.  I've been doing some research and the GeForce GTX 260 and Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 are looking good to me.  Thoughts?

GTX260 Core216 would be the better model choice, costs like $10 USD more but significantly better. Also the new GTX275 just came out may wanna look at that, pending your budget.

The E8400 is good, however the Socket 775 motherboard is no longer gonna getting any new CPUs if you don't plan to upgrade your CPU thats fine but i'd probably go with a Quad now a days. I built a Core2Duo a year ago and while games aren't utilizing 4 cores yet, its better to have imo for the future. I'd go with a Q9650 or Q9550 again pending budget Quad 3.0 or Quad 2.83. Don't get me wrong though the E8400 is great chip but its somewhat not the future anymore; i'd tend to lean towards quads now as I used to be all about duals when they were running much faster stock than quads were.

And no building something on your own if you have knowledge is typically always cheaper if you have the tools and ability to do so.

Since this sounds like this is the first time you are doing this, be careful. Although building a PC isn't too hard, you can seriously screw stuff up if you aren't being careful. Be sure to read the manuals (most manuals are pretty clear) and ground yourself. Also get a friend who has done this before to give you a hand or pointers. But after you are done, it is pretty damn satisfying to have built your own PC.
 I built one in February, and it is a pretty good gaming PC that was a total of $600. It is worth it to make your own.

Yeah, build it yourself. And it ain't no thang if you don't know a socket from a parallel port (lol). I'd suggest going to any "Fry's", they'll build it for free (in most places) just pick out all the parts and they'll even throw in a linux dual-boot for you (cuz linux is free anyways).