AB>    I hope you put that to good use.  I'm typing this on a
AB>PC built around a 500 MHz Pentium III 'Katmai' chip, so clearly I'm due for
AB>upgrade.  I'm wrestling with the question of whether to build something from
AB>scratch or to buy a basic, cheap PC and then upgrade that over time.

Depends on what you intend to do... if it's just email and light surfing
linux on your old box will work. I run Ubuntu on a PIII 866 with 768
megs ram and can even run flash video.

But you likely need a OS upgrade too and if you use Windows, it's
going to be cheaper to buy a ready unit than putting a system together.

The good news is that prices are very competive now and you have a wide
array of choices. The netbooks are cheap and getting better. In a few
weeks when Windows 7 comes out I might just get tempted enough to
buy one. Your going to want to wait for Win 7 or make sure you get an
free upgrade.

I know the two Walmart cheap PCs my ex and ex-mother-in-law bought were
really bottom end units, I've had to upgrade both of them.

I'd suggest checking over at Tiger Direct. They carry barebones to full
systems, are competive and they ship promptly. They also take Paypal, if
that's helpful. I've do get most of my computer stuff there and sent
a lot of friends that way, they have been good to all of them.

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