After about two years of planning (and several failed attempts), I've finally gotten a new computer! 8)

I've had my old computer since 1998, and it had definitely begun to slow down and become less productive than it used to be. The little 300 MHz Pentium II processor just couldn't handle new-age software any more, or at least, to my liking. The thing is so slow it's essentially annoying for anything internet-related, but at least my also recently-acquired DSL connection helped alleviate that concern slightly.

Here are the new computer's specs:

HP Media Center PC with Intel Pentium D 830 3.00 GHz processor (2.79 GHz clock)
1024 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM, upgradable to 4 GB
250 GB serial ATA hard drive
DVD+/-RW/CD-RW drive
DVD-ROM drive
ATI Radeon X300 PCIE video card w/128 MB RAM
Windows XP Media Center Edition

Two other cool things about this computer: 1) I can watch TV and listen to the radio on it, and 2) I can add an external 160 GB hard drive to it to increase the storage even more! (As if there weren't enough space already XD)

Here's the old computer's specs for comparison:

Sony PC with Intel Pentium II w/MMX 300 MHz processor
64 MB SRAM, upgradable to 384 MB (still only has 64 MB of RAM)
6.4 GB parallel IDE hard drive
24X CD-ROM drive
ATI Rage PRO 2X AGP video card w/4 MB RAM
Windows 95

While I did upgrade the old comp by installing items such as a 20 GB hard drive, a 24x10x40 CD-RW drive, a 56X CD-ROM drive, a network card (yes, 1998 was before manufacturers made preinstalled network cards a standard), and a 250 MB Zip drive for external storage, it just didn't cut it after a while. I also tried to keep up on the software side as well, installing new versions of Windows up until Millennium Edition (yes, I know it sucks, enough already) and all the various internet programs, like Flash Player. Unfortunately, I never was able to upgrade one of the key components: RAM. It always stayed at 64 MB, so programs ran so slow that you could count the seconds while waiting. It was so hilarious near the end though, because I'd be playing games over the internet with my friends and exclaim to them how fast they were able to quit the program and go back to AIM to talk to me. While I was still exiting the game, they'd be sending me messages. XD

At least now I'll be able to exit programs as fast as (or faster than) they can.