OK folks, I love the concept of a $400-$500 computer, BUT I never seem to be able to get there.

Based on comments about HP, I went over to HP Small Business and configured a computer pretty comparable in the features to what I have now, less the keyboard, mouse and **dual monitors** which I'd keep. I selected a processor from middle of the pack, no idea what a best value pick would be, whether there's any advantage for me to going up to a Core Duo Quad processor. I do hate waiting, that is a trade-off I realize. I upgraded the video card to more or less what I have now, I think, with required dual monitor support, I think. I moved up to 4 GB RAM, as had planned to do on the current machine.

See it here: http://tinyurl.com/ysav3

I don't want to buy something and then start mucking with it to get where I need to be. That is time and trouble I don't need and then warranty becomes an issue. Many of you might be comfortable with basic warranty, you are comfortable digging into the damn thing when it breaks, which it will. I very much prefer they jump to fixing the damn thing when it breaks. Every penny I've paid in warranty has been a good investment, dollar-wise. Though the service from Dell under warranty has been less than stellar of late, they eventually got it fixed previous times it died. If I have problems, I need someone else to fix it ASAP. Whether I'd need the 24/7 4hr option is debatable. <shrug> but the 3/3/3/next business day is my minimum. Since it is hard drives and motherboards that seem to go most frequently, I want those covered, which means buying the HDs OEM.

While I obviously need to come up with a better back-up plan than Windwoes, the RAID 1 in the current computer saved my butt when I needed it too, allowing me to finish a critical project on time. If I decide to get a new computer, that project paid for this computer, though I still would prefer not spending money these days. I wish HP offered larger drives, but 500GB is double what I have now. If I proceed, I may look at DELL again as well, but..... <~>

I just want a reliable, FAST computer with enough memory to not slow me down, RAID HD for quick recovery from HD disaster (BTDT) and good responsive warranty service when I need it.

This computer has worked fine for 4 years under Windwoes XP. No reloads, etc.

My primary software, from memory, is:

Office Pro 2003 w/ serious heavy duty Powerpoint presentations
Corel Photopaint (an older version, works great, I prefer it to Photoshop)
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Acrobat Pro
Adobe Premier
Adobe Illustrator
Homesite
Dreamweaver
CAD stuff, mostly as readers
ACDSee
Eudora (probably moving to Outlook soon)
Firefox
avast! AV and some other such complimentary software
Skype
Carbonite
There are 160 programs in the Program directory, including a bunch of small utilities and programs to make me more productive, many of which are semi-ancient, but work well for what I do.

I expect to be doing much more video work going forward, so that woudl help drive requirements.

Here's what was configured at the above link, in case it doesn't work:

-Configurable- HP Compaq dx7500 Microtower PC FN838AV
-Configurable- HP Compaq dx7500 Microtower PC
Genuine Windows Vista® Custom Downgrade to XP Pro
Intel® Q45 chipset integrated
HP dx7500 Country Kit Includes a Quick Setup & Getting Started manual in English and a country-specific power cord.
Intel® Core 2 Duo E8600 (3.33GHz L2-6MB) processor
4GB PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) 2x2GB
ATI Radeon HD 3650 (512MB, DVI-I, (2) DisplayPort ) PCIe x16 Graphic Card
Integrated 1394 Port
HP 500GB SATA NCQ HDD SMART IV Hard Drive
HP Backup and Recovery Manager Software standard
HP 500GB SATA NCQ HDD SMART IV 2nd Hard Drive
RAID 1 Configuration (If RAID Configuration is selected, both hard drive 1 and hard drive 2 are required and must be the same capacity hard drive)
HP 22-in-1 3.5" Media Card Reader
SATA 16X SuperMulti LightScribe drive
No keyboard
No Mouse
Genuine Windows Vista® Business32 System Recovery DVD Kit
No Item Selected
HP 3-3-3 (parts/labor/next business day on-site) warranty Microtower

$1,132.02 plus shipping, etc.

3-year 24x7, 4-hour response on-site coverage, desktop only (electronic) (for 3-year warranty selection only) ADD: $159.00

Thoughts and comments welcome.