[Mr. Jeeves]

Macs are the only way to go - as long as your budget allows it, for best results get a MacBook Pro 15" with a separate Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard, a 27" Thunderbolt monitor, and two or more iPads for family media consumption purposes. :) Otherwise, look at an iMac.

But I understand some people have requirements for Windows. Until I swore off Microsoft in 2008, I had pretty good luck with Sony hardware. It's usually a little more expensive, but I never had any serious failures or problems with my Sony desktops or notebooks. On eBay you can find fairly new Sony boxes with Windows 7 for the price range you specified.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

All the Windows/Word, etc programs can be had on a Mac.