Best exchange to buy bitcoins?

[KSV]

I'm thinking of buying around 5 BTC and I'm wondering what the best exchange would be to buy them at.  Previously I would have just gone to MtGox by default, but now with all the bad press they're getting I'm thinking of going else where.  I like the looks of Bitstamp since it looks fairly low cost and easy to use.  Has anyone used it before?  Any good / bad things to say about them?  Suggestions for alternate exchanges?

well that depends where you are located. . .

I live in California.

definitely OTC. . .

[newmars]

In US, coinbase and campbx, not quick process for initial order

[halfawake]

I'm thinking of buying around 5 BTC and I'm wondering what the best exchange would be to buy them at.  Previously I would have just gone to MtGox by default, but now with all the bad press they're getting I'm thinking of going else where.  I like the looks of Bitstamp since it looks fairly low cost and easy to use.  Has anyone used it before?  Any good / bad things to say about them?  Suggestions for alternate exchanges?

well that depends where you are located. . .

I live in California.

definitely OTC. . .

What's the advantage of OTC over an exchange, aside from speed?  I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of speed to not have the counterparty risk and all that you have in OTC trades and also the generally lower prices that exchanges have.

[joele]

I recommend bitfinex.com

[NumberFive]

Coinbase has been good for me.

[halfawake]

I ended up going with Coinbase.  I wanted to use Bitstamp since their fees are lower, but they have a $15 wire transfer fee for people not in the European Union.  Since I live in California, that fee more than cancelled out the lower fee to exchange dollars into bitcoins.  Even tried funding the Bitstamp account with Ripple, but couldn't figure out how to get money in there from Ripple, so I just decided to go with an easier exchange to put money into.