I picked the easy way out and bought for under $100 a USB turntable that connects to my computer. Software made by Cakewalk came with it as well as Audacity, but the Cakewalk software is very easy to use. I can save in different formats, burn to CD, etc. So much easier than any of the other methods I have read about. The turntable I bought is made by Audio-Technica, although there are several different brands available. I found mine by doing a search using Google, and after I decided on this brand, I searched for the best price I could find. I bought through an online merchant for a price much better than CC or BB for the same model. Sad to say, I haven't done very much with it as yet, converting only a few albums to digital, but I listen to the albums just for the fun of it. By the way, it has a dust cover, so I have it sitting on a little table next to my computer desk.

I think it should be standard proceedure to provide you with a copy of the actual windows os cd with any pc you purchase that has that OS installed it just makes sense, you are buying the OS as part of the deal so should have full access to that OS disc should you need it and in most cases it is just not available. Having to go out and purchase a new windows OS cd is ridiculous when you already paid for the OS when you bought the pc. I wish they would change the practice, it would not be that big of a deal for the manufacturers to do that. It has long been a peeve of mine. Which is why I now prefer to have my computers built to my specifications and get the install cd with it from the builder. But that does not help me for my husbands windows 7 laptop. I have to say it is one of the redeeming factors for Dell or at least has been because they did provide the windows cd, not sure if they still do that or not on all of them. Having Acronis or imaging is beside the point I do have that the fact of not being provided something you paid for and should own is what is the problem.

I've also been in similar situation--needing to choose two chairs for my home office. Like most things, I turned to Craigslist. With the economy as it is and all the layoffs there are numerous office chairs to have had for a song--many ergonomic, leather, upholstery with or without arms. I ended up buying two black leather ergonomic office chairs, buth then felt they were too bulky. The other option I like is the swivel chairs from Pottery Barn. I was able to procure one of them used and it is just the look I like, but alas not as comfortable. DH prefers an ergonomic chair that has a lower profile than the leather ones so we are still debating, though I use the office more than he does as he just takes his laptop and sits wherever. As for our kids, they have nice desks and ergonomic chairs, but still sit on the beds with their laptops for homework. Here is the Pottery Barn one that I like (and am still looking for another one used as the price tag is way too high for me). Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Swivel Chairs

I am running an AMD 5 core processor and not had any issues with it, Its really a 4 core chip with a video processor included. I prefer the Intel processors, but my new Acer Desktop came with the AMD chip. I suppose that cost was the reason. I hung on to XP sp3 as long as i could and then changed to Win 7 Professional in the new computer. There was a learning curve, but Win 7 has proven to be a good operating system. The main issue, in crossing the boundary from the X86 architecture to the upgraded system, was that I lost the use of several old favorite programs. One of these was a sketching/drafting program. Since I have retired, I can not justify the cost of updating the old programs. I kept my old computer to run those.