what is the least amount of ram should i upgrade to so that when i watch videos on youtube or watch movie trailers that it doesn't have to stop to buffer 1/4 to 1/2 way thru the video.

It's not so much the RAM as it is your internet connection. But bumping your RAM up to 256MB or even 512MB will definitely improve overall performance. BTW, do you have a *real* video card or onboard graphics? If onboard, how much of that 128MB is going toward the video?

It's your internet connection, not your your memory amount. Though sometimes, it may be youtube having trouble keeping up--it is a very popular site after all. I experience lots of pauses on youtube on a 6 mbit connection. The Dell 8100 uses discrete graphics. Super Pentium III: NOW WITH 7950GT AGP! PIII-S cpu overclocked to 1.66GHz--As fast as a 2.5GHz P4! 2GB of PC2700 memory QDI Advance 12T board Audigy 2 Vista Home Premium

i have dsl i'm not computer savvy so i hope this answers your question: do you have a *real* video card or onboard graphics? CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, VIDEO, 32M, NV11, TELEVISION OUTPUT If onboard, how much of that 128MB is going toward the video? how do i find that/where do i find that?

I told you in my post above that the 8100 has discrete (aka a real video card, NOT onboard) graphics. So none of your 128MB is going towards video. Super Pentium III: NOW WITH 7950GT AGP! PIII-S cpu overclocked to 1.66GHz--As fast as a 2.5GHz P4! 2GB of PC2700 memory QDI Advance 12T board Audigy 2 Vista Home Premium

The Crucial Website has a MEMORY SCANNER TOOL which will let you know what memory you can install try it: http://www.crucial.com 256MB is the absolute minimum..........

thanks for the help jackbomb i told you i'm not computer savvy so calm down. lol