I used localbitcoins.com
which was a link i got from the Newbie FAQ on this forum :0)

it was very painless.
I setup an account.
Picked someone with a good rep and the same bank as me
tranferrred them money, waited about an hour.
got bitcoins in my localbitcoins wallet
then i sent them from there to my computer wallet.

one thing i have noticed which doesn't jump out at you is transferring bitcoins is not instant.
mine took about 3 hours to confirm.
You can pay a fee (it's under settings, main, Pay transaction Fee) and then it goes much faster but if i wanted to pay banking fees i'd just use a bank.

who gets those transaction fees anyway?