Hi. I need to get a new PC. Mine is 5 years old and starting to show it's age - I can't play any good games. :-) So, I need a computer to play games (Civilization IV, fantasy RPG's, etc...) and just for regular home use. Checking email, writing letters, budgets, Quicken, etc... I don't need a super powerful machine - I don't play shooters or ever play online. I do love LOTR style fantasy games, so maybe those do need a lot of power. Can I get the kind of machine I am looking for for under $1000? Can anyone give me some suggestions for a brand? I won't be building my own machine - I am not very good at that stuff. I need one that I can sort of plug and play with.
THANKS!

You can get the machine you are looking for under $1000, most computers of that caliber seem to go for about 7 - 800 dollars.
I would recommend a dell or HP/compaq, but lenovo's are nice too.
Just get one with a processor around 2.0 GHz and about 1 - 2 Gb of ram. The less ram the cheaper though. You might consider one with a decent graphics card too, if you are planning on playing some high caliber games.

Any brand will do for as long as the specs have the following:
Intel Pentium4 or AMD Phenom Triple Core 8650
Intel or Gigabyte motherboard w/ built in audio,video,lan
2GB DDR2
160GB Hardrive
8500gt 512mb 128bit DDR2 PCI EXpress Video card
17"LCD monitor
Casing w/ 500w power supply, headset, web cam, mouse
For sure this would cost you around $500-$600 only.