Looking to buy a good used computer. Not one for playing games or downloading music. Mainly I have a lot of photos as I sell things on different websites. But here lately I've started keeping my photos on a removable drive instead of my hard drive. My question is, when looking for a new (used) computer it all seems very confusing, and so I was wondering what are the minimal specifications I should consider? You know when you're reading the ads like "Intel Pentium D Processor 925, 3GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive, Windows Vista Home Premium." What's the minimum numbers I should be looking for?

Also, here are a few questions that I thought might be interesting. Please feel free to answer any, all or none:

1. Please explain the major sellling points of XP, XP Pro, Vista and Media Center and why a person would choose one over the other

2. What are the major differences between a windows pc and an Apple? and why would a person choose one over the other?

3. If you could have only one part of your computer be top-of-line state-of-the-art, which one part would it be? and why?


Please finish the following statements:

1. The next time I buy a computer I'll be sure not to...

2. I like my computer but I sure do wish that it...

3. The single most essential software on any computer which should be spared no expense is...



Thanks for your input!