PowerSpec brand (sort of a no-name from Microcenter) tower. Black, with 2.5ghz pentium-class processor, 75GB hard drive, 512 MB RAM (which isn't much, but it's enough). Has both Firewire and USB cards.
I Paid $1300 new in 2003 for a high-end rig, and now it's it's a perfectly adequate back-to-school special (doesn't have MS Office, but who needs it when you have Google Docs and/or OpenOffice.org, right?)
Upgrades: Wi-Fi card so you don't need cables (although there's still a wired connection too), ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card (high quality card, has like 128 MB RAM just in the card, great for gaming - got it to play World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament).
Monitor: ViewSonic 1912wb EnergyStar LCD flat-screen monitor (19" diagonal) capable of 1440x900 resolution, digital or analog inputs.
With a brand-new install of Windows XP Home AND a subscription to Norton Anti-Virus that's valid through December.
Games:
Unreal Tournament 2004
Civilization IV
Neverwinter Nights
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Starcraft
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Baldur's gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
Icewind Dale
Hellfire
Dungeon Siege
Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
Age of empires II: Conquerors Expansion
Diablo
Diablo II
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Game of the Year edition)
Icewind Dale
Turbo Texas Hold'em for Windows
2 copies of World of Warcraft (One for you, one for a friend. Why not?)
$150 if you pick it up. $200 if I have to schlep it over to wherever you are. I just need to get some more space on my desk here!