Dave -

I sort of thought it was standard too, but my new machine (admittedly a "business" configuration) didn't have either joystick or MIDI connectors - because they used all the available space on the slot plate for those #$@! super-speaker jacks. Maybe I'd have been better off with "one of the cheapest," but their sound card was part of the package, and it did have good specs - for the things they listed. Not a big deal, it was just one of life's little surprises.

They did give me extra USB ports, so I presume they expected I'd use one of the USB joysticks and/or USB mouse if I needed any such stuff. The joystick conn probably also went away to make room for something else that got added, although I can't say just what pushed it off the panel.

I've got way more connections than I'm likely ever to use with the Audigy2 external, and they're all right out front - if I could get enough loose papers cleaned up to find the unit again. (I'm pretty sure it's somewhere next to the external HD, a little to the left of the LAN bridge, and somewhere close to the USB switch. I can tell where all of it is from the multiple "accessory" transformers sticking up where they're plugged into the surge sticks.)

John