[tweeksound]

Thanks Sony, I will look into the Dells. Are those deals gonna last a while? I've always heard that to get a PC to work dependably with audio/video, you need to wipe it clean from everything the manufacturer puts on it and start fresh on bare bones. With the Dell, I feel I could try it out as is (with a few changes that I can make) and if it doesn't work well, wipe it clean and build it from the ground up.

I do want XP. I do not need Vista using 2 Gigs of RAM while I'm running 50 tracks of audio, 1 hour of video, a couple dozen plugins, and overdubbing 6 tracks on top of it all.

I really never got crazy into computers and these days I'm even further behind. I've always focused on the art science of audio and video production and never needed to worry about what the system was gonna act like. I'm 85% hardware based right now (the way I like it). Most of what I do is on a dedicated sf/hw DAW (akai DPS24) that is rock solid and never gives me issues. It does what it's told and does it well. Then I also use the Marantz unit for smaller jobs which again is rock solid. I've taken this for granted but the wave of the future is driving me into a reef of computers that I either need to figure out or get smacked into. I'm by no means computer illiterate, but when it comes to something as important as my studio and career, I prefer to underestimate my knowledge than suffer from possibly overestimation.
I assume maybe since I had to deal with daily Mac/Pro Tools issues at school and trying to get my PC to do anything is often a challenge, I may be over reacting.

I guess as long as I get a decent PC or Mac and take care of it, I should be fine, right?
Or do I have to be a programmer just to play solitaire these days?

Either way. My hardware based DAW will someday be gone like all machines and I need to start preparing now or I'll be out of business when that day comes.

I'm also considering another hard ware based set up (which will always be a big aspect of the way I work) but either way I do need a better computer. And soon!