I'll wait until my friends are upgrading their gaming rigs and there's perfectly usable and cheap hardware available.

This 3.06 GHz Pentium 4 box I'm using right now cost me absolutely nothing when I "bought" it. I have no problem using the Internet or coding, in fact the computer seems more responsive than my two year old PC at work.

And he's right, kinda. It's the easy but expensive way.

I bought an used CRT iMac for my grandparents for basic web browsing couple of years ago. Last year, when my other grandfather needed a laptop to replace his ten year old PC, I suggested him to buy the cheapest MacBook available. And this week my mom needed a new computer to replace her ancient laptop, I suggested her a MacBook, too. Guess why?

Even they're expensive, they're really the "install and forget" kind of computers, if automatic updates and firewall are configured. I guess I could buy a cheap Acer laptop and install Ubuntu on that, but I just don't have time for troubleshooting all the issues that might arise. And yes I have tried, thank you for asking, installing various versions of Linux to friends or family, but there's always some little glitch that takes just too much time troubleshooting. And trying to tell people that OpenOffice is just as good for home use as Microsoft Office...

Just my 2 euro cents.

What's wrong with a custom-built or beige box PC?

You can get all the options you want, the hardware is practically the same as Apple's, heck, there's also some nice looking computer cases available if you like.