I'll let people who own something more modern weigh in. I have an antique Dell P120 and it's fine.

Only advice I've been sticking to until further notice is stay away from Compaq computers. They have some nasty habits. This may have changed with the buyout by HP which is my favorite and most trusted for everything else.

Do you need serial and parallel ports for anything. Make sure you check, because many of the new ones, don't come with these.

Pricing seems competative once you have settled on the machine.

Buy lots of memory to start with and don't skimp on the hard drive, that should keep you safe and happy.