First of all--Thank you for your learned and thoughtful response.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on the Maxtors--although who can argue with stats. I have legacy Max's going back to my Windows 98 system. I have two 120's that I put in my Hacked Showstopper/Replay 2.5 years ago. All my Max's are going strong. But I do have some Seagate's and Western Digitals--and we'll see who outlasts whom.

Your plan for my new system is perhaps a bit more ambitious than I'm feeling at the moment. I'm probably more interested in getting some immediate performance than holding off the future. --I"m maybe looking 2 years down the road MAX....

So please don't go away in a huff Downsize a bit and share your good knowledge with me again if the mood takes you. Let's use the memory as the limiting criterion...although I printing all the stuff you recommended--and that usually means I'm already half way there

And on a re-read I see you've got my back on media authoring concerns. Time was when databases like Sybase and Orace could put a system through it's paces--Small potatoes these days--both in terms of size and speed--MultiMedia demands more. Yeah that Sata has me fantasizing.

Please do come back at me with an After Christmas shopping B-plan though if one occurs.....