Anandtech just posted their latest buyers guide for midrange PCs.  Just thought I'd post a link here for any who are interested....

Page 1: Index
Page 2: Baseline AMD Midrange Platform
Page 3: Baseline Intel Midrange Platform
Page 4: Upgraded AMD Midrange Platform
Page 5: Upgraded Intel Midrange Platform
Page 6: Display Recommendations and Conclusion

This is a pretty good place to start if you are in the market for a $1000 - $1600 PC (though you can obviously save quite a bit if you already have a monitor/case/keyboard/mouse/etc.)

If you are in the market for a more expensive system, check Anandtech next week for the new High End System Buyers Guide.