Looking to buy a new computer

There are still many Windows 7 laptops available, new in the box. Check Amazon for Lenovo and HP. Both have units either direct or from resellers. My wife just got a Lenovo E545 with Windows 7 64Bit Professional preinstalled. Priced about $400. It does come with a Windows 8 disc (we ditched that one). You will find all sorts of setups that will have 4-8 gigs of RAM and hard drives of various sizes. YTour budget will determine what you wind up with.
As to your connection via DSL, don't feel badly. My buddy in central Wisconsin (CenturyTel) gets under 1 meg and has a powerhouse of a laptop. He connects to the router with WiFi, btw.

If you are at all mechanically inclined, then building a desktop BUDGET machine would be an option. You would have to either have or buy a new Monitor and keyboard+mouse. Total cost in the range of $500.

Hope this helps you.

Definetly want desktop as we have a laptop and she isn't crazy about it.

AS I said you can do a desktop with your choice of components. I do build budget machines and they hold up very well long-term. The largest single expense you will have is a copy of Windows 7 Pro (~$139). Considering how it will be used, you can go with any number of possibilities from places like Tiger Direct. They offer a bundle that you can easily assemble and over time upgrade as you please. My personal machines use GigaByte motherboards and AMD processors. I strongly urge everyone running Win7 64 to install 8 Gigs of RAM. You can use the onboard audio for most things. I do install a separate video card that is capable of HDMI, DVI and VGA but not a gaming one.
Many here have their preferences and experience level. I have been doing this for a very long time and am comfy offering these suggestions based on the fact that my machines run 24/7 without fault. Do your research and come back with a list of either assembled or kit systems for all of us to review for you. Keep in mind that both Costco and Sam's do have open box/refurb types of machines. Also, look at OffceDepot/OfficeMax for what they offer - you never know. I cannot recommend BestBuy for refurb/display or open box based on the fact I have had to reinstall Windows too many times to remove store bloatware.

Good luck

What about the ability to upgrade HP and Dell computers?

jc836, why not the gaming video card? Just curious as I had never heard anyone saying that before. Believe it or not, I have built a few computers, the one I am running I built, several years ago.. I have just not kept up on info for which boards to what CPUs and memory to match.. The peripherals are a snap except don't know anything about SSDs. Anyway, just curious.

dakota37 said:

What about the ability to upgrade HP and Dell computers?

To the extent that you are likely to upgrade beyond replacing hard drives in the future, I wouldn't "buy a computer" now. I'd build one.

"Upgrading" is a matter of degree, so it's unclear what you may mean by the term or how often you might intend to do it. Personally, I wouldn't want to be locked into a Dell or HP case and power supply over the longer term if I had intentions of replacing motherboards, CPUs, fans, video cards, etc....total rebuilds. Let alone something like overclocking.

But if this is just intended to be a modest PC and used for simple tasks, buy it and run it into the ground over 5 plus years, then buy another one and repeat the process. Don't upgrade anything that doesn't break, other than perhaps hard drives if storage requirements grow or if you want to try an SSD.

Dakota: I was trying to keep you at a basic price point. The on-board video is actually fine for many people. I use a Radeon HD 5000 (MSI R5450) in my 3 desktops. These work well for games such as those on Facebook and the ones within Windows. If you have any intention of playing the more advanced/graphics intensive ones like WOW then a higher end card is the way to go. Machines for my clients use what they need for their situations.
If you go with a refurb-get an HP. As noted by others they are easier to upgrade. I too have worked on Dell machines and they can be a real pain.