Purchasing a new PC first timer

[Genny]

Greetings! First of all, I am NOT computer literate. We have an old computer, received from a school in Sudbury. Now I am hooked. I am told this one has no memory left on it, it is slooooow and I can so much more with a newer one. I do use it for financial and household use. However, I have several programs to add to it, receipe file, scrapbooking, calendar, but apparently no room on this computer. Please help! I do not know what to look for, everyone talks about rams, megabits, etc, another world to me. Any suggestions - what to look for, what to watch out for, lists of dos and don'ts I guess is what I want. Thank you in advance.

[Cruel_Intentions]

first off: Your storage problems can be solved by either uninstalling applications and/or adding another or bigger hard drive. Basically your computer is telling you that you have to much stuff on your hard-drive.

If you really want a new computer and dont do any gaming or use any intensive applications, then I would definetly go for one from Dell. I work in the tech support industry (not for dell), and find their support to be some of the best. Also, well most people will tell you to build your own or get someone to do it for you, you usually won't get the tech support or warrenty that comes with an OEM machine. An OEM machine will work just fine for your stated purposes (finiancial, receipe's,scrapbooking,etc).

If you are interested in building your own, it is actually relativly simple. For a low end computer, it won't be as cheap as buying a low-end Dell, but you'll learn alot.

As far as my recommendations:

RAM: Don't skimp on Ram, it's dirt cheap right now. I wouldn't go over 1GB for your purposes unless you get a good deal tho (Recommended: 512MB - 1GB)

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 - cheap dual core processor with a high level of quality. I'd stay below the Athlon 4000+ series, again unless you get a good deal (AMD Athlon X2 3800+)

Video card: I'd recommend onboard graphics for your purposes.
(Recommended: ATI/Nvidia/Intel setup, no particular brand)

Harddrives: Unless you store alot of movies, I wouldn't go over 150-200GB. However they are pretty cheap right now too, and more is always better. (Recommended 150-400GB depending on budget/use)

Optical drives: I would go with a combination drive that supports DVD/CD Burning. No particular recommendation other than that.

Motherboard/Power Supply/Case: OEM Supplied if going OEM computer route.

Operating System: I would DEFINETLY stay on Windows XP in your case. If your not computer literate, Vista can be difficult to grasp. Also, it won't run as well on low-end hardware.

If you need clarification or help with anything let me know