Hardware for new Linux installs?

[Jayson Smith]

Hi,

My Linux box decided last night would be a wonderful time to go to that 
great computer center in the sky. I was sitting here last night and the 
thing suddenly powered down, and won't power back up. Probably either a PSU 
or mobo blown. Time to upgrade anyhow, since I've had this box since 2005. 
Fortunately, when the Linux box went up to Linux box heaven, it didn't take 
the hard drive along for the ride, and I've already backed up all my data.

What I need to know is, what kinds of systems are people using these days 
for new Linux installs? I don't want to try to migrate my old system over to 
new hardware, since it was a hopelessly outdated Gentoo install. I probably 
wouldn't go with Gentoo again anyway. So what minimum hardware requirements, 
what distro? I'd love to play around with a GUI, but I absolutely can't 
stand Espeak! The GUY doesn't work with hardware synths, right? What about 
newer kernels and serial ports? If I do go with a GUI, is there any way to 
get Eloquence for it? Is anyone selling pre-built Linux systems for blind 
folks?
Thanks for any help!
Jayson