Thanks for all the advice.  Since the dta100a was out of stock, I ended up going for an Onkyo 8211 off of ebay.  Hopefully this will provide better power/quality than the dayton, and be a little more durable.

Unfortunately, I don't really have the ability to hunt for stuff on craigslist due to constraints on my time and transportation.  I may try that route sometime down the road.  Do you think the dta100a will be a workable interim solution (reasonable volume, considering the low-ish power) until I...

I will be using the speakers mostly for listening to music from my laptop.  I am less interested in features like virtual surround, etc. and I pretty much just want something that will provide adequate power and good quality without going over $100.

I am considering purchasing these speakers: http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS41-LR-Watt-2-Way-Speakers/dp/B0045US6DE/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1345348900&sr=1-4&keywords=pioneer+speakers to use as computer speakers in my dorm room.  Since these are the first pair of passive...