Regarding the first post, that suggested a replacement computer might be in order -

If you haven't looked recently, you might be surprised at what's available in new computers. Six or seven years ago, a "middle grade" computer likely was near $1,000 (US) and may have been a little more machine than you needed - or really thought you did.

There are lots of machines at very much lower prices now, with a few "desktops" on the shelves at around $350 (US), although some of the cheapest ones barely deserve to be called "computers." At around $500 (US) you should be able to get a fairly decent one.

Laptops also come in a similar price range, and most people can probably find something that satisfies normal needs for around $500, or $700 if you need a little extra.

I recently blew $700 for a new laptop, primarily because I needed a "spare" for a special purpose job in order to avoid tying up the desktops that we mainly use. I paid a little more than many people would need to, but I think my needs are a little in excess of what's reasonable of what most people would need, but the next step up would have been to about $1,200 - like they all used to be. I haven't used that laptop for anything except the one job, as yet (copying VHS to DVD to save shelf space) but it appears to be adequate for other uses. A main reason for "buying now" was to get Win7, since Win8 will probably be the only option soon. More recent info seems to indicate Win8 will likely be "usable" but the early reports were a little scary, and I wanted to "lock in" the same OS as on our other couple of machines.

If you get the urge for a new machine, there are a couple of warnings I/we might offer about some of the new stuff, but that sort of info could change so a new thread might be warranted if such info would be helpful.

John