Do I upgrade or buy a new computer?

[SW FL Dem]

I have an older computer with a 1 gig processor, 128k ram and Windows ME. My 13 yr old son wanted and got an IPOD mini for Christmas but when we went to try to install the software, we learned that we had to have either Windows 2000 or XP. The poor kid has been waiting for a month for the thing and now he can't use it. He took it quite well, luckily he got two new XBox games so he had something to do today.

Should I try to upgrade my computer to XP and add RAM or am I better off spending the money to get a new CPU, my monitor and printer are fine. Whatever I do, needs to be done soon. Last I checked, it would cost me about $150- $175 to upgrade to 512k RAM. I don't know what it will cost me to upgrade to XP. I just wonder if it is throwing money away at this point to put money in to a 5 year old computer. I can afford a new computer.

Any recommendations for manufacurers (I won't be buying a Dell)? I have a Compaq and it has been pretty reliable. I spend a lot of time on the computer, but most of it is surfing the web, mostly DU and reading email. I don't play computer games(other than Solitaire or Pogo.com) or run programs that need a lot of memory. I have a cable modem. Any input is very much appreciated! TIA!

[hobbit709]

1. upgrade to win2000

Don't waste your time with xp. Would'nt hurt to put another 128 Mb RAM in in. Check around for better prices on line. Here in Austin, memory is about $30-40 for 256 Mb depending on whether its SDRAM or DDR. Win2000 pro is available for about $130. you can usually find some good deals on Ebay

[Maestro]

2. Well if you are willing to spend the money

I would just buy new.

Check out my recommendations here: Upgrade advice

Also, check out:

Finally, I have had no problem with XP Pro so I wouldn't be afraid of going with XP unless you have many old legacy devices. However, if you buy new, you will not have a problem.

[idiosyncratic]

3. I'll second the "upgrade to Win2000" suggestion

I have Win2000 on an old Pentium III 600 mHz computer and it runs fine.

I also only have 128 megs of RAM. Unless you are into heavy graphics or math programs, you shouldn't need more than that. I often have five or six programs open while I surf the Web and this computer never crashes.

When I upgraded this computer, I put in a second, brand new hard drive and installed the new OS to it. Then I partitioned it and copied over the data from the other hard drive. Finally, when everything was running well, I formatted the other drive and partitioned it.