Advice. What brand desktop?

My old Gateway desktop bit the dirt. Been looking, but it seems there's 97 different brands and configurations these days. Numerous processors too, up to six core, etc. I'm on the wife's new laptop, she's using her old one, she ain't happy about it either.

What's good these days? Mid price range, want a decent one that'll last a few years. Gave $1100 for the Gateway six years ago, worked pretty good 'til the hard drive threw a rod.

It had a dual core Pentium D, 2.8ghz per core. Might like something with a little more horsepower, but obviously, don't know a helluva lot about 'em.

Brand/processor recommendations please?