I am looking to buy/build up a pc.

It has to be quiet. And as such i am looking to put in an ANTEC Phantom 350w.
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/Antec_Phantom_350_1.html
Pentium 4/ or celeron
80gb hard drive
Inbuilt sound
AGP/inbuilt
LianLi or other good looking case.

Either the above OR

Buy a prebuilt dell for around 900 no monitor as i already have one.

The question id like answered please

Are Lower end dell computers any good?
keep in mind it wont be used for gaming, only accounting, internet, photo storage, printing scanning.

Are Lower end dell computers any good?

In short, no, compared with what you can get with a "whitebox" (i.e. brand-less) PC's. Dell is good for business users if you need the warranty and support. Other than that if you're strictly looking for bang for bucks then Dell generally loses that battle.

If you're only using it for that above task then I think build your own PC is probably a better option.

if you're not using it for gaming, either way sounds alright, no diff really

If you are technical and don't midn problems and fixing them yourself ... then DIY

If you like not having to fix problems, or if the PC is not for you (ie. friends and relatives) then get them on to a tier 1 product (Dell, HP etc etc ) so they don't bother you for support.

I'm with Obes, pain in the arse when every relative/in-law/friend-of-a-friend you have expects you to fix their PC... I recomend dell PC's and MAC's to the aforementioned people now.

I dont fix relatives pc often becase they recon I charge too much.

If you like not having to fix problems, or if the PC is not for you (ie. friends and relatives) then get them on to a tier 1 product (Dell, HP etc etc ) so they don't bother you for support

Obes ftw...

I'm trying my darndest to not be the computer bunny at work atm... :(

Obes is exactly right.

I sell HP/Compaq's at work, and they are well made machines... but generally, the bang for buck just isnt there... I also sell a shuttle xpc.

Tell me how much a shuttle SB83G5 (Clicky) would be worth with a P4 3ghz, 512mb RAM, Radeon X300SE, 16x Samsung DVD Burner, Hauupage Nova T Digi-TV Card and 80gb SATA hdd would be worth?

This is the beauty of retail markup.

It is for my parents, so i will likely choose the simplistic route and buy a dell. I just dont want to recommend a pos.

Cheers guys.

If it isn't for you, then Dell's good. Get the extended warranty. That way in two years time when they are having problems you can still tell them to call Dell to sort it out.

Putting pcs together for friends/family is just asking for trouble.

i get so annoyed when every f***ing knob wants me to fix their computer, and when they ask they expect it done then. no c*** has patients

If you want quiet, do not buy P4/celeron.
AMD 64-bit is quiet. Oh and buy and asus motherboard with q-fan. uber quiet.