I've moved your question to this thread Lemongrass
http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=2009&replies=11#post-33764

There are already a few computer threads going on. I understand that a lot of you "newbies" have lots of computer related questions but this is mainly a photography forum. Yes they are related, kinda, but admin really wants things to stay on topic with photography.

You guys can use the "Mac discussion" or the "which laptop should I get" threads that are still at the top of the forum. I'm not closing this thread because I don't want these kind of discussions but we just don't want several computer threads filling up the forum. You guys are free to discuss computer stuff in either of these threads that have lots of info.

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=2009

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1984

Don't buy a PC, build your own, saves a ton of cash. If you like games, at least get a Radeon 5830 video card, they are a real powerhouse for the price. You can get a good 23" lcd for about $200 now-a-days.

External HDD's, just get the one that cheapest per GB with out going to cheep.

Hey guys,

I'm planning to buy a new pc. Just a few questions I'm wondering:

1) Which video card (N, A or others) do you guys use for graphic editing and entertainment?

2) For gaming, besides the screen size, is there any difference between using a laptop and a desktop computer?

3) Which brand of external hard drive is the best? Just having it sit at home all day so portability is not an issue here but reliability and durability is (as I've already had a lot of dead ones in the past).

Thanks for any suggestion, I appreciate it!