-> WC> I see there's a HDTV card that will actually work in this
-> WC> machine if I merely get an activeX capable sound card.
-> WC> About the only way I'll be able to get HDTV considering
-> WC> costs. 

-> I have no real interest in HDTV. I watch videos now and then
-> but not a great deal of 'television'. A DVD reader in one of my
-> machines would be sufficient for that.

I've no real interest in HDTV either but that's all we're going to be
left with soon and I DO watch PBS a lot. 

-> WC> I keep an eye on the classifieds for used computers. Wish I
-> WC> could do the yard sale thing as friends have gotten
-> WC> remarkable deals there. 

-> People will part with some really good hardware once it begins
-> to give them problems. No one will part with a working monitor
-> now that they can buy a new computer without a monitor.

I found 2 - 19 inchers left by the dumpster at the curb
in the last year alone, both SVGA, both work fine :-)

-> WC> Then too I could order a case, motherboard CPU combo and go
-> WC> from there but that would be a while off. 

-> Once you have a sufficiently large hard drive the rest is
-> comparatively easy or so it seems.                

Yeah, that's sort of my plan.
Tiger Direct has a Soyo boarded bare bones system, power supply,
case, 512 meg RAM 40 or 60 Gig hard drive and 2.8 Gig AMD Athalon
for $390.00.

Probably one of those boards with non-tantalum bypass caps prone to
leaking but hey upgrade as you go.
Comes as a kit in a  box. It's ATX form factor so swapping boards no
problem
 One thing I DO like is 5 free PCI slots and 4 & 8x AGP
independent video card. No operating system.

-> WC>>> I do have one last hard drive in the 486 but it has
-> WC>>> important files on it so I can't put it at risk by
-> WC>>> swapping it around. 

-> WC> Never fried anything until the last few years but if I
-> WC> exceed a very limited time engaged in moving stuff around
-> WC> it's a near certainty I've come to acknowledge :-( 

-> Me too.                   

Kinda sucks getting old doesn't it?
In a way it works out pretty well sometimes.
By the time you're about to shuffle off you really don't mind.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5