Actually this year was the first time I built my own and would always buy and recommend Dell. This year it seemed I could get better quality for the same price. Besides, I got the cool Thermaltake Xaser III case...

So build my own AND recommend Dell to others. Uh... 1 and 2 (I guess other).

Edit: I did get all the parts from Newegg.com

Edit Again: Unless I'm recommending a laptop... I really like the Sony's and have had two and bought my wife one. Firewire is killer with digital video cameras.