Ron,

There are many options for you out there. They can all be right AND wrong at the same time. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. My experiance over the last several years in both sales and break/fix has all been with Windows systems. For the last 6 I've worked in sales for the 2 major companies that merged a few years ago. That being said, I Have some Possiblities for you.

First off, make sure the system you get is a business class machine. You might have to go to a major online reseller to do that. Do not get something like the HP Pavilion (altho I do have one and have had nothing but good luck with it) or a Compaq Presario (that's my notebook and it's been running great for 4.5 years being carried to work every day) or any other lower end system that does not come with a 3 yr warranty at no extra cost. You might give up some fancy software such as Works but it's worth it.

The main thing to do is invest in a good antivirus and firewall and KEEP THEM UPDATED along with all of MS Windows updates. Also, make sure you have a good and easy way to back up your system AND test it with a restore. The best backup system in the world is worthless if you can restore your data.

If you want my personal opinion, and yes I am biased, PM me.

Greg