I'd like to reiterate the reasonable prices on developer-level hobbyist machines : One can get refurbished HP machines (hpshopping.com) with 3.2 GHz processors and speedy buses, 200Gb storage, etc. that work great for developers (1GB of RAM) for $699.00. Sure, it's running Windows XP Home, but that works ok for most development environments. I would suspect that were I to replace the LCD display in an ICOM RIG, the part alone would be more than that.
Most of the time it's really not cost effective to upgrade hardware more than 2 yrs old, factoring in time, aggravation, driver issues, etc. Similarly, for a new generic machine, I've found it's really not cost effective any longer to buy build-it-yourself or white-box PCs. Comparing processor/memory/disk of local build-ur-own vs. the 'majors', the build-ur-own come out to MORE money around here (Seattle). Caveat: I don't work for hp, and have no interest in them selling machines to anyone. --- Jim Lux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Just to cast a note of reality here.. > > <omitted>