I agree with Jim. I would not buy an off-the-shelf computer. Have it built by someone whose work you trust, to your specs. If you're unclear about what you need, describe to them what you're going to use the beast for and they should be able to tell you what you need.

And I would avoid Windows Vista like the plague (with which it shares some undesirable characteristics). But if the 'puter is being built for you, you can have the builder put on it whatever operating system you want. Unlike the off-the-shelf manufacturers, your custom builder is not taking orders from Microsoft.

When I had "Alice" built for me in 2004, I had the guy put dual operating systems on her--Windows 98SE and Linux. I later (2007) upgraded the Windows to XP after they had more of the bugs worked out of it.

Joe

Last edited by Joe Wrabek; 04/29/09 02:52 AM.