I am also looking for a recommendation regarding online bitcoin exchanges.  I bought a little USB miner on ebay a while ago.  It's been hashing away at 2Gh.  Not much, I know.  Now that I've had some practice, I'm ready to step up.  I'm thinking of buying an Antminer S1.  Buying direct from them requires I have bitcoins. 

I need bitcoins to purchase an Antminer.  So I'm looking for an online exchange where I can buy bitcoins with US dollars.  I'm looking for recommendations on which exchanges are reliable, or which I should avoid.  Also, after all the reading I've done, I prefer to keep my bitcoins in my own wallet on my computer, and back it up myself.  So I just need a place where I can make the exchange, then transfer to my wallet.  That may require having an online wallet to hold the bitcoins temporarily, and that's OK.

thanks!