I share your feelings on a laptop keyboard...nothing like the regular one. Did you look under the keyboard options, mine has 3 choices and I went to "regular Kayboard". I like it much better without the "fn" features but I can still use them by pressing the "fn" key. First I have to learn them. Jean

All is now working. Here is what I did: I removed the ethernet cable connecting the Cradlepoint router to the second (Netgear) router, and connected it directly to the computer. I really believe that the cable from the Netgear router to the computer is faulty, so I will buy another one. I use the Netgear to give the wireless signal a wider range than the Cradlepoint provides. Zep, I checked the TCP/IP properties, and it was not checked to Obtain DNS server address automatically. Instead, it had the ip address of the Cradlepoint router entered. I changed it, following your instructions, and kept losing the connection, so I put the setting back as it was. I think there is a reason I had it that way. I am using Open DNS on the router, and I think the instructions were to set it up that way. At any rate it is now working, so I'll leave well enough alone. Oh, yes, the wireless is working also. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

If mine I'd put the battery in, hook the ac adapter up. Turn it on. Explore things. I would maybe instantly make the Restore DVD's before I did anything else then next from Control Panels, Back Up and Restore.... on the left margin make a Image file to DVD's. So I could quickly put it back in 'out of the box' shape... should I need to some day. Maybe hold off starting lots of things.. look in Control Panel, Program & features. Kind of compare what is installed for programs to the Icons on the desktop. Some of the junk items will not be installed until you start them up the first time. Lots will be TrialWare programs that usually come with new computers that will Want money in the months to come. You can decide if you want the AntiVirus program that came with it... and some of the other programs probably too before running them.. Sure is lots cleaner to get rid of them if never installed to begin with.

Interesting that someone considers Macs better value for money, because here in Europe I find that I can get a lot more of everything for my money with IBM compatible hardware. I can get a faster processor, more ram, bigger hard drive, and I have a much greater choice of manufacturers and suppliers. I like the choices and there is more potential for money savings when there is such a wide market. Anyway, prices aside, there has always been this debate between Macs and PCs, but the comparison can be very misleading. It's as if you can have a Mac box or a Windows box on your desk. People talk far more about the software than they do the hardware. To the average computer user what happens inside the box under the monitor isn't a big deal, provided it happens fast and reliably. That's why I like IBM compatible hardware. The x86 processor is also the one which has the biggest selection of compatible software. This is why it's so misleading to treat IBM compatibles as windows boxes when compairing them to Macs. I have an IBM compatible computer and I do not run any MS software on it. I could if I felt the need, but considering the vast selection of good software out there I don't. I mostly use linux, although the number of operating systems for x86 computers is huge. I also, ironically, find that the supplied media programs with linux such as open office are more compatible with windows files than windows ever has been. I can read files from any variant MS office, while windows XP complains the file type from older versions is not supported and simply refuses to open them. And when I save a file I get a vast range of choices, in fact I can save it in any number of native formats as well as other computer formats, including MS formats for sharing with other people - and I can even choose which edition of MS office standard to use so that I can share files with older computers. XP doesn't offer that, and it's an actual MS product. I like x86 computers best because they can run almost any program you want and access nearly any data you could want to read. A Mac that can be a Mac or run windows isn't that exiting really, in fact most Mac programs are available for windows anyway and the windows versions tend to be a lot cheaper. I don't like having to re-start in different modes either, I find that with time you get more dependant on one mode than the other. And constantly wish you could instantly access a bit of data from a file in the other OS, or quickly run a specific program which would do exactly what you want if only it didn't mean dropping everything you're doing and re-booting. I would bet anything that within 6 months most Mac users have pretty much ended up exclusively using just one OS. I like seamless stuff and I find I can run emulators much more seamlessly on my IBM compatible, even to the point where I forget what programs are native to linux and which ones aren't.