How big is the hard drive on your current computer and how much of it have you used? That should tell you whether 80GB is likely to be big enough for your needs.

For example, my puter, bought in 2001 (state-of-the-art at the time but positively hamster-powered now), has a 40GB HD and I've only used about 30% of it in 5 years. And I hardly ever delete anything so I've got tons of photos and a fair bit of music on here.

A media card reader is a doohickie that lets you slot into the computer all different kinds of memory cards, etc. (such as you'd find in a digital camera). You can buy a USB plug-in card reader for about $10, if you don't want a built-in one. You're better off with more USB2 or firewire ports than a memory card reader.

Look for at least 512MB of RAM, preferably more.

Hope this helps. I'm sure someone who actually knows what they're talking about'll be along in a minute ...

DO NOT BUY A DELL. EVEN AT 22% OFF IT IS NOT WORTH IT. I BOUGHT MY SECOND DELL A YEAR AGO AND THE SERVICE IS CRAP AND THEY FILL IT FULL OF JUNK I DIDN'T REQUEST AND THEY PUT A PARTITIONED DRIVE THAT WILL TAKE UP 10GB OF HD BUT WON'T SEND YOU A DISK WITH THE PROGRAMS YOU PURCHASED ON IT IN CASE YOU WANT TO DO A REINSTALL.

You didn't say anything about memory, but I'd recommend at least 1GB. 512 is decent for a lot of apps, but if you're moving up to heavy media use, along with Adobe apps, the more the merrier.

Storage-wise, whichever HD you feel may be best for your needs. (I personally use a secondary drive for media files.)

The "13-in-1" sounds like flash memory (Commpactflash, MemoryStick, Secure Digital, MiniSD) and their variants, with the possible addition of a floppy reader and perhaps an additional USB port. (Units often vary.) If you're looking toward a new camera in the future, the reader could spare you the use of a connector cable.

Good luck to you, regardless of whatever choices you make!

I am not as adamant as our squirrelly friend against Dell, but I have been seeing a drop in quality in the machines I administer. I would still buy a Dell over an e-machine, or some other crap, mainly because they do offer the warranties, and are unlikely to go away in the next 3 years, whereas with other off-brands, who knows.

Spec-wise, I agree that going to 1GB is the best bang for your buck upgrade. Unless you are a torrent-head, or a gigiantic music freak, whatever drive it comes with is fine. If you run into space issues, you can always hang an inexpensive external hard drive off a USB port in the future.

The 13 in 1 could be handy, as Smart Dalek says, but I wouldn't spend any extra on it. Any memory card device will come with a USB cable solution as well.

Hope that helps, and feel free to post any followups...It's quiet here today!

Buy the extended service plan with ANY Dell.

Ignore the processor speed. There is no difference between 3.4 and 3.6 Billion "No Operation" instructions per second. Modern processors spend most of their time waiting for the rest of the system to catch up.

Instead, spend your money on fast disks (the rpm, and large cache) and memory ("front side bus" speed)

Spending money upfront on the larger drive *may* be a good idea, because the system disk is the most difficult (well, invasive) thing to upgrade later.

Media readers, speakers and other hoo-hah are basically free for the manufacturer to include, and can easily bolted on down the road. As factors in the purchase decision, I ignore them. Likewise bundled software.

Email me and I'll send you my cell # if you want live advice. I've been doing this stuff for a living for 9 years, and I get this question more or less weekly.

Thanks guys. The IT guy came in, and the deed is done. Let's hope it works out.