[kevchard]

I have specced and installed several Dell pc's over the past few months and they all seem fine. They are good in the sense that you can get individual drivers off their website aswel.
I cannot speak for mesh, except one that the motherboard died on it (within the guarantee period), and they replaced it ok.
If you are on a budget, then Acer make good pc's if you want to buy one from staples or such other shop. Dell seem to provide best VFM tho.
AMD opteron and Pent IV are on a par. AMD semperon are equivelant to Intel Celeron (so steer clear of both).
JMHO.
Cheers