Well, for $150 at Amazon, I wouldn't pass it up. From what I can tell, performance issues seems to be a very individual thing, with the variables of OS and processor type, other apps, etc. affecting it. I'm running Win2k pro on a self-built Intel P4 2.0Ghz with 512MB of RAM (sometimes 1GB when I pull from other machines that aren't doing anything), an 80GB 7200 rpm hard drive, and a GeForce 64MB MX400 video card (yes, it DOES make a difference for the GUI speed; render time is not affected one way or the other by the video card though.) I've heard that WinXP gives even better performance than 2k. A big thing for me is I don't have a lot of "junk" apps installed - no "cracked" software, since the hacks can cause problems with the OS. I also don't run any p2p apps like Kazaa, etc., nor the latest greatest of everything under the sun. Like I said, it's very individualized. Running the least amount of apps and a lean system will help tremendously. Also - when you have Poser open, resist the urge to surf the web while it's rendering. My system crawls when I do this. IE must hog some serious RAM nowadays.