HP workstation

I'm thinking about picking up an HP workstation. Like, my very first one. I finally saved up enough cash. Now I'm just wondering where the best place to buy one would be here in Washington, D.C.? Everywhere I've looked lately, the selection has been pretty underwhelming. It feels like everyone is just selling the same thing—maybe two or three Z230 models or a couple of Z420s. I noticed the options over in Austria are way better, though. You can actually find some decent setups with a Quadr K2000 or K4000 already built in. But, I guess I'd much rather just shop here in America.
If anyone has any experience with local shops, I'd love a recommendation.

Have you checked out the retail locations on the HP site yet? http://www8.hp.com/hr/hr/store-finder/index.do

And honestly—you might want to look into building some custom rigs—because if you just go out and buy one of these pre-built workstations, you’re basically paying a massive premium for nothing more than the convenience.

I did some digging and eventually traced the issue back to the importers and distributors. 😬 It seems like there’s just zero interest or budget for pre-built workstations. I guess that makes sense, though I honestly thought having them available would give people more models to choose from. Laptops in that category seem pretty common here, maybe because students buy them.
I was also thinking about building my own rig, so I went back and checked that old thread CAD configurations where you guys had a great discussion, but I don't know much about pre-built workstations. They have their perks, and they aren't overpriced for no reason, it's just that salaries—especially in my field—are what they are, so nobody is really buying ready-made machines.
I'll probably look around a bit more, and if I can't find anything, maybe I'll head over to Austria.

Why don't you try sending them an inquiry over at this link? See what kind of custom builds they can put together for you—at the very least, it gives you a solid baseline to compare against HP:

I've picked up a few high-end chassis for servers and workstations from these guys a couple of times now—they actually carry some pretty decent hardware if you bother to look through their price list. If you're looking for a heavy-duty rig that’s going to chug along 24/7 without throwing a tantrum, you really need to make sure you're spec'ing out redundant power supplies and ECC RAM; everything else is just a matter of whatever your specific needs dictate.

A few months back, I bid on an fx4800 at an auction—basically the same thing as a 2000. Snagged it for dirt cheap, like $115. Honestly, why would anyone bother buying one here in the States? Got too much cash burning a hole in their pocket?

I guess I was planning on buying everything here in the States just because it’s easier (or maybe I'm just being lazy). But now I'm seeing that even the options in the US are starting to shrink. I'll probably check out some advice from fosnine, but I think I'm just stalling on a decision I should've made ages ago and complaining for no reason. Thanks for the help.