SSD's (solid state drives) have come down in price to the point that I won't have another computer or upgrade an older computer without one. They last longer and there is less chance of loosing all your data to a bad hard drive. As far as brand of computer goes, it's just the name on a Chinese case and mostly Chinese internals. I would recommend 8 gig of ram. For fun (mostly) buy your own components and assemble a computer yourself. You won't save any money, but you'll have better internals. MicroCenter in St. Louis Park has everything you need.
