Replies

I'd tend to agree with other posters above, and stay away from the thin client stuff. Thin clients make sense in larger corporate environments, where the specialized knowledge in setting up and maintaining the centralized parts can be spread out over more hapless end users who don't need much more than documents, web browser and email. Thin clients help a centralized corporate MIS department maintain tight control and uniformity over a large pool of end users.

Best to go with ordinary PC's and laptops, running Windows or Linux, and that old server, for file and print sharing.

As the kids get to be teenagers, the games they will want to run will pretty much require Windows. And to run Quicken and Tax programs, either you will want Windows, or you will have to make do with older versions of Quicken and second choice on the Tax programs. Otherwise, Linux is lower cost and more stable and comes in a wider variety of distributions targeted for various sorts of users and users.

Expect to have an ever changing mix of PC's and laptops running Linux or Windows, as your needs and means evolve.

You can find a reasonable selection of ready made PC's from two of my favorite ventors at:

Looking at some of the Newegg systems on the link in my previous post, I see that they are selling through from some vendors that I would be reluctant to do business with, such as IBuyPower, eMachines, Compaq, and HP.

I have never actually purchased a prebuilt system through Newegg and am not sure how that works. I purchase almost all my computer parts from Newegg, but I usually know exactly what part I want before I even get to the Newegg web page.

Monarch Computer has long been my favorite site for pre-built systems, though I have not had the pleasure of purchasing from them in the last year, and I note with some concern that their once vaunted rating on ResellerRatings.com has slipped dramatically, from the high 9.xx's, down to 5.09. I worry that something went bad with them, but I don't know.