Hello all... I will try to make this short, I own a video store, we buy, sell, new and used VHS, DVD's and different types of games, X-Box, Nintendo, ect....ect.... The computers that are in the store now are outdated, so much so that they can no longer serve their purpose, instead they hamper the buisness. So, Im have all seven replaced including monitors, keyboards and mice. I know my way around computers fairly well. But I don't have the time to build them. A friend of a friend who I have hired to do all this for me is fully skilled in that feild. Here is my question to anyone out there, these computers are going to be used for everything as far as the buisness is concerned. Inventory, cash registers, internet connected, employee time clock, payroll, ect...ect. I would like some suggestions on what mobo's, cpu's and so on. Also, does it take a special type of monitor to use for touch screen, or is that simply just software that allows that to happen? Any and all relivant comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Video Card: Geforce 4 MX series are good for that type of use.

You do need a special monitor, but those can be quite expensive ($1000 and up!)I'd stick with a good old $90 CRT. I'm not sure about the motherboard but, I know I would go with a P4 processor, maybe a 2.4 GHZ.(that might be a litle over kill but just to be on the safe side)

Most any middle of the line cpu's will work fine for business apps for a long time. Intel is geared more toward business apps; I would lean toward intel (also have quieter heatsink fans and overheat protection). A 1.4/1.8 ghz chip should be just fine for a long time. Intel makes very good, stable boards as well. Touch screen monitors have sensors in them. There are kits availble that have a "sensor overlay" for a normal monitor, but I do not know how well they work. You can heck these sites for more info: http://www.elotouch.com/ http://www.magictouch.com/

You can get away without using fancy hardware. What you could use for a register/timeclock you would never consider running at home. Ever hear of that Bill Gates quote about "640KB of RAM"? Well, its not true, but for a register that is really more than you need. So a 1GHz machine with 128MB RAM? Plenty. In fact, exorberant. Most registers have around 1MB of total memory (including the Flash ROM), battery backup built-in, and weeks of memory-refresh (to keep volatile RAM memory running on battery). Some examples of this: http://cashregisterstore.com/ce7000.html But it is entirely dependent on the software you are going run. Knock those requirements. Generally speaking, you want a cool-running chip (AMD is not your first choice here). You do not need a fast chip. The calculations are simple. Your router may only be a 50Mhz PowerPC. Here is some good information about touchscreens: http://www.touchscreens.com/introduction.html A touch screen can be added to existing monitors like this: http://www.enablemart.com/products_detail.asp?id=329 But all this depends on the software you will run. Find out what it needs and follow from there. Remember that you want components known for reliability and longevity. Speed and sheer performance are not your goals. Get a good warranty and have a budget and ready-help for replacements or tech support.

Thanx to all who responded...all great info, again many thanx!!! I suppose I should have mentioned that these computers will be connected to the internet via cable modem. I have that setup at home and I know there is minimum system requirements for that. So will a 1GHz machine meet those requirements? Dennis

A P2 has no problem connecting via cable modem. A 1ghz P3 or P4 would be fine. A 1ghz celeron would probably be slow. The only question lies in the other software you are running. Are you using one software application for all apps: "Inventory, cash registers, internet connected, employee time clock, payroll" (Oracle, SAP, AS400?)? If not and you will have several programs running on each machine, you might want a slightly faster processor and a little more memory (256mb).