Greetings, Techno-challenged senior citizen here. Pardon me if this is repetitious or too ignorant. Need advice on machine to replace dead e-machine. I'm a cheapskate and I don't do gaming at all or video much. Just need a new desktop box; old monitor, etc ar fine. Which brand is least bad? HP, Compaq, e-mach, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, etc.? I see an HP on sale for $250 "Compaq SR5110NX" is this likeley to be good value and durable? I have an old LS-120 drive and a Pioneer DVD burner in my e-machine. Any problem swapping them into this machine if need be? Also swapping the floppy from e-machine to new computer? Alternatively I'm thinking about a "business" computer so I can avoid Vista Any comments on that idea? They seem to be a little more expensive. Thanks

E-machines seem to have a given life span. If the power supply goes it can take out the motherboard, cpu and I had one also take out a new hard drive...(returned as doa). If your hard drive is still good, it can be used in the new machine. If you upgrade the drive you can transfer everyting from the old one onto the new one. The cdroms as well. Perhaps a barebones computer would be a good choice. Case,powersupply and motherboard. All they need is the cdroms and hard drive. and memory. Most come with the 3.5 floppy. Don't know what the operating system was on your e-machine but winxp can be found at a reasonable price. Most computer stores have barebone computers as well as Ebay. Ebay? check feedback and warrenty. Brands....you get what you pay for. Be sure it can be upgraded in the future as far as the cpu..ect Hope this is some help. W.L ps: I too was challenged but now I just flounder.