hey frank, go to walmart.com and you can buy a brand new linux machine (microtel running lindows os) that will do anything you want or need for all of $229. don't fall for the endless lines from those who have never owned nor lived with a mac or unix variant regarding how you just have to run windows just to stay alive.... they are all lies.... i have lived in a windows-less world for quite sometime and neither have i been "left behind", forced to "do without"' nor has the sky yet to fall. windows is a big waste of money if your intentions are to web surf, read/write mail, and check out news groups or play games.

I am back with an update. I did talk to an independent computer tech person who immediately told me it was not worth fixing my machine. She felt that the problem I was having with it not turning on maybe the motherboard. I am also seeing the case suddenly deteriorating faster and faster. Opening the computer, moving it from my lap to a table, keeping the screen upright, are now something I have to think about and fool with every time I pick it up. So, thank you Sue for the suggestion but I've decided I am ready to get a new machine. I am especially anxious to get it done before it goes kapoot and I can't get my files off of it to a new machine. I do hope you enjoy your machine as long as you can though, Sue!! :-) I have enjoyed my Dell and would have been just as happy to stick with it. secsteve....the 'trackball' I refer to is the one that is part of the keyboard of my Dell. It is in the middle between the G and H keys and very small movements with the index finger make it very easy to place it right where you want it easily. The button to select once the pointer is where you want it is right under the space bar and I can reach it with my thumb without even taking my hand out of typing position. Very convenient and easy to use. On the Apple it is instead the pad which you swipe your finger across to move the pointer. The key to select it is below the pad, no where near the keyboard, so you are always having to change position and taking your hands out of typing position. I just don't know what they were thinking to let go of the arrangement that works so well with the keyboard, to adopt this style. We went in to the Apple Store last night and even the salesperson who demonstrated using the pad, didn't seem to have any more mastery over it than I was getting. Slow and awkward. They have NO computers that offer the trackball as part of the keyboard. He suggested a wireless mouse, which I think they offer, but didn't have in the store. From what I can see of it online, I am not sure how easily it will work. It does appear to be one that you don't actually move the mouse around so much as you move the tracking ball on the mouse. So that is one option. According to him, there are no manufacturers that are making the keyboard w the tracking ball any more. Hmmm...will have to check that out. I asked him, what about people who have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, which is a pretty common problem for people who type. He looked at me like I was speaking Greek. [g] Most salespeople in computer stores are young people it seems to me..lol. Of course, makes sense. He did show me some sort of contraption that holds the computer on it, with front support to rest your wrists on and that elevates the computer for air circulation. But if you are using it that way, the ergonomics are just not right for both the keyboard and the tracking pad and buttons. And if you use the pad to raise the computer, now your arms and shoulders are in a much more awkward and unsupported position. Very strange that for a company that put so much thought into ease of use and common sense applications that they seem to have spent no time on ergonomics. So disappointing! It is a little frustrating because if it were not for that issue, I may have already bought an Apple. It is just an issue that I cannot ignore. I was very impressed with everything I read on their website about their machines. Another thing I like is that they will transfer everything from your old computer to the new one for you. There is a store close by too. So, this afternoon, I am going to call Dell and see what their story is. Not what I expected to be doing this week. :-( Anyone else who has some Apple or Dell experience, I pretty much have it narrowed down to these two. Thanks pm2

I don't know what went out. You would think that since so many folks had that kind of a problem that they would have come up with a fix for it. I guess they fixed it in the newer models. Thanks Owbist for all your help. I'll check out the link. I was reading another posting related to the Windows mail and it sounds like it isn't too popular. I may check out Thunderbird. I have called on the HP support quite a bit recently. Didn't have any major issues with them except for not being able to get the chat-support to work and them saying there wasn't anything wrong with the site. Susie, what do you mean tech support 24/7 for life?

Couple hundred years ago apple was spelled apfel; at least in zees coontry. George Washington woulda wrote it that way. Presumably the "f" was or became silent. I lookt it up in Google; gulp! I had no idea it was anything except an archaic disused abandoned word.