I haven't used Win7 yet, but a coworker recently installed it and told me that it is faster than XP or Vista on the same hardware.

I think 2 gig of RAM is on the low side, but you may be able to increase performance just by adding RAM rather than replacing the system.

When you say there is a lot of lag, is that the lag from the time you connect until it starts to play? If so, that may have more to do with your internet connection than the PC. Have you checked your connection speed at someplace like dslreports.com?

Thanks bpgreen, Good news about win7. The 2gig system (have not purchased just shopping now) is by Acer and I don't think it is upgradable. Your right I do have awful speed on my internet, I am constantly having to unplug and re-plug my router to reboot it. I have to have the phone company come out but right now I am in the middle of a bathroom remodel and I want to get that mess taken care of before I have them come out. I pay for 6.0 and I maybe get half or a third of that. I think a lot of lag also has to do with the big 42" Plasma screen. When we first hooked it up you could immediately see the difference in the speed. We are on TV web sites a lot cause we ditched cable. Love not having to write that huge check every month. But there is a trade off you have to have loads of patients when pulling up shows cause my half a gig Dell struggles. I looked into adding more ram to my dell but to bring it to 1 gig was 367.00! So forget it. We will continue to use the dell for the plasma but was kicking around the idea of a system for the downstairs living room which is a 36" flat screen (old style) JVC. We are considering upgrading that tv in near future.

oh my goodness where on earth are you looking at buying RAM that wants to charge you $367??? Ram is very cheap and replacing it in a desktop system is very easy to do. I buy 1 gig sticks of RAM at Newegg for under $20 and that is Kingston which is a good brand. I would run a belarc on that pc and see what it in it and what it can take then do a search at newegg or crucial etc for the needed RAM.
Belarc
give us the model number of your pc so we can see what it is we are dealing with.

Dell Dimension 8250. Well that would be great if I could get it for less. I have been told that the ram I have is a high quality and very expensive and is the same that is used in the sony playstation. I don't know what that has to do with anything.... I went to the site u mentioned Belarc didn't know where to begin. That would be great if you could help me out.

on belarc just click where it says download and it will put it on your pc then you can have it run and it gives you a great list of every single thing on your pc including your current RAM and how much more you can install and how many slots you have etc.
Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit (Version 8.1e)

here is the adding memory info for your specific Dell pc
Adding Memory
you do have to have matched pairs for your pc.
I see the problem you take RDRAM.
here is the memory info for your dell
PC800 or PC1066 RDRAM (non-ECC) is what it can take
you have 4 slots
the memory capacities are
64-, 128-, 256-, and 512-MB non-ECC
maximum memory you can have is
2 GB for PC800
1.5 GB for PC1066
8250 Series

I think you are on the right track on just replacing that one with a newer more updated pc. It is just not worth spending the money on one that old. I personally am not a dell fan just because they are so proprietary on much of their parts.

there are some very good deals right now on computers and most that have windows 7 will be 64 bit and can take large amounts of RAM and that RAM is a much cheaper more easily acquired type.
I have an ACER netbook and just bought an ACER laptop for my husband for Christmas so far both have been fine.
I have always really liked HP computers and own several.
Walmart has some great prices on them right now.
For what you want to do I would go with a dual core or quad core processor, I am an AMD fan but you will have a choice of Intel and AMD your choice. I would go with a 64 bit processor. AS to the windows OS it will likely be Windows 7 home premium in 64 bit on those.

you mentioned seeing an ACER this is one I saw at walmart that has some great specs for the price
Acer AX1800-U9002 Desktop with Intel Core2 Quad Processor Q8300 & Windows 7 Home Premium
has a quad core, 750 gig hard drive,4GB DDR2 Dual-Channel Memory at 800MHz for $498
that gives you some ideas anyway.

I suggest you go to Crucial.com and enter the name and model number of your computer. It will then scan and tell you exactly what RAM you need and suggest various combinations. Their prices are usually good, but you don't have to purchase there to use the free scan.

the problem is that the dell pc being discussed uses the old RDRAM rather than the newer and much much cheaper SDRAM. That old Rambus type is expensive but you can sometimes find it at used computer stores that have been taken out of the old units and salvaged that is where I would try if you wanted to try it.

Then I think I'd ditch the old Dell computer. I'd never spend that amount of money for memory. No computer is worth that, IMHO.

Yea I agree that is why I am looking for a new one for TV viewing which is what the Dell is doing now. That one that you sent me raven I had seen before. It's a bit smaller then a reg tower but not as small as some of the mini's. How hard would it be to get that Pc to have an HDMI output?
I was thinking for the dell I should be able to find used Ram just didn't know where to look. I have a couple of HP laptop's and I picked out that really cool touch screen PC for my mother but find that their towers are always so big and bulky so I have been looking elsewhere. Good news on the Acers. Dell has been good to me I have had a couple and they are very good but I understand what your saying. I just want something not too big and not too expensive that will run the movies and tv stuff from the internet. Thanks all for your help!