I think the real issue isn't specs or anything like the momma's boy breadmakers vs. machines with real hardware, or the cost. I think what's at hand here is system stability, which is based off of the quality and compatibility of parts. I've built the last 11 computers in my network using AMDs and Nvidias, and top notch motherboards form many different manufacturers, Asus, Azza, MSI... I've never had a hard drive crash down on me since UDMA 66 came out years ago, and I run these suckers all day on several non-related projects. I'm not sure why, but BR5's system stability is great on fresh new machines, and Lightning makes the whole "render time" issue a fairy tale. The funny thing is that I do almost all of my work on the two lamest machines in my repertoire, my P3-600 (sometimes I'll clock it to 800!) with 256 megs SDR PC-100 RAM and my P2-266 at work with 64 whopping megs of RAM!!!! Hell, my P2 doesn't even have a 3D accelerator! The point is that a bad-ass machine does NOT make you any better of an artist, and if you think a render time of days is long, take a look at the Sistine Chapel sometime. Or better yet, the earth! It renders in realtime, but can you ever actually SEE it all? Perspective is the key, use the tools at hand. We burn...