I have noticed that the difference between using one of the companies which
builds just a white box with linux and purchasing the parts from someone like
NewEgg and building it yourself is this: you get MORE for you money when you do
it yourself and in almost every circumstance where I have been personally
involved, the quality is higher when you do it yourself. Dollar per dollar -
your best bet if dollars are tight is to purchase a Dell with Ubuntu or build
your own with known working components for Ubuntu.