Advice pls: buying a new PC

[Eric Van Tassel 101233.342@xxxxxxxx]

With apologies for exploiting the wisdom of this group for my own ends ...

I'm shopping for a new PC, probably a (slowish) Pentium III. I need
reliability, but the price has to be as low as I can safely get (because
PCs here in Europe/U.K. are priced way over their U.S. equivalents).

(1) Can anyone point me to the most reliable and objective source, either
Web-based or in print, of up-to-date comparative reviews of PCs and
peripherals? There are a lot of items I can't evaluate for myself: e.g. for
my work, I need a good sound card & speakers but only passable video; I
want the best but also cheapest backup (probably a Zip drive) and a really
good CD-RW; because I live out in the boonies, I daren't get stuck with
unreliable "build quality" (ugly phrase); etc. Where do I find the most
trustworthy ratings?

(2) In the U.K. specifically, can anyone comment on Mesh or Evesham PCs?
 >From friends' experience, the only worldwide names I'm considering are Dell
and Gateway; but here both are undercut on price by a slew of local
outfits, of whom the U.K. magazines seem most often to praise Mesh &
Evesham. Any advice?

TIA
Eric Van Tassel