Ok - so - I went out and bought the following items:
Compaq Presario 375 computer with Celeron D 3.3 GHZ processor,
GeForce 7300 PCI express NVIDEA graphics card.
Sakiri2.2 megapixel digital camera.

Slated for purchase:
1 gig RAM bank (on top of my already existing 512 MB),
optical mouse (I'm tired of roller mouses getting dirt and gunk in the rollers and getting sluggish and sticky with lint and dirt after about 100 uses),
Mouse pad,
Either a flat screen monitor that's at least 17 inches - or - an S video capable regular TV set that doubles as a monitor, either would have to be cheap.
A floppy drive (I know that they'r practically extinct - but a touch of nostalgia gives me a comfy warm feeling).
Later (after the 1 year limited warrantee expires) - I'll tranfer the guts to a larger tower case with more expansion bays and add my two other auxillary hard drives (80 and 20 gigs respectively) and my old lite on cdr burner - making me a nice bundled monster.
And - after a while - I'll start griping about how THAT one's a dinosaur to...

All in all , I should be able to make some really nice crap with the stuff I just got, I'm just too damn lazy to put it all together and set it up right now - that - and I wanted to fix my office up a tad bit before I did (seeing as how I'm a little OCD when it comes to everything being just "so-so").
Some paint - some spackle - maybe a new desk and chair - a nice new rug and custom anti-static mat - a clamp on light for my wall shelves over my work area - and a little fridge for snacks while I'm working on my creative junk.

HEY - LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT A SOFTWARE RACK / SHELF HUH?!!!

Maybe I'm going overboard. At least I can get BRYCE 6."whatever" and DAZ STUDIO now without my old computer going "GACK - WHAT'S THIS STUFF?"

I would get POSER 7+ - but heck - I don't know if I'd wanna pay $500.00 for a REAL WOMAN - let alone software that let's me simulate one. THAT'S PRICEY DUDE!!!!
If I could find an app that can export the "skeleton armatures" that I can pose my modelled figures with into DAZ STUDIO - I'de be happy. I wish I could find a free copy of POSER 4 / POSER 4 PRO PACK - that would be perfect.

Me too! My main system is going to the shop this morning for a new  320 Gig hard drive and 2 Gig of RAM. The existing 40 G hard drive is going to be slaved to the new one until I transfer all my files (approx 27G) then it and another 512 stick of  RAM will go into the No2 comp. I will be re-visiting a couple of my gallery pics now that I will have the xtra power to render them the way I had origionally intended.

Cheers
GG.

Quote- "I don't know if I'd wanna pay $500.00 for a REAL WOMAN - let alone software that let's me simulate one. THAT'S PRICEY DUDE!!!!" . ROFLMAO!!  Sounds like you're putting together a really nice system Mugsey. E-Frontier recently gave away Poser5 as a free download.

Is it still available?

I don't think so, they had it available only until a certain date.
Unless anyone else knows different?

Unfortunately no. But now that they've given it away as a free download from their own servers to check the response, what do you bet that it ends up on a bonus disk in one of the UK's glossy graphics mags next, and very soon?

Quote -

optical mouse (I'm tired of roller mouses getting dirt and gunk in the rollers and getting sluggish and sticky with lint and dirt after about 100 uses),

Mate, if you get an optical mouse make sure you get one that plugs into the USB, i got an optical mouse that doesn't plug into the computer and the only problem i have with it is the cost of batteries...2 AA batteries ever 2-3 weeks depending on what i do on the computer, 3d work chews up the batteries quick.

Mind you i like the idea of having 3 buttons plus the scroll wheel on it.

Heck yes, optical is the only way to go. I'll never go back to a ball mouse and a pad!

I went ahead and spent a couple extra bucks on the nicer duracell batteries for mine. Still equals out the same in $, as they will go about 3 months before I replace them, and that's after using them at least 8 hours a day, 6 days a week.

I got a wireless optical mouse... they are great for serious mousing because the cord doesn't get in the way, especially when I'm switching between right and left hand (what's the word for that... bi-dexterous or something?) But they do drain the batteries. Use rechargeable ones. I also use a wireless USB mouse from Logitech which doesn't use a visible red LED, and that lasts way long. It's been 4 months since I last put batteries in it, use it everyday, and it's still going strong. Always keep an old corded optical mouse around just incase the batteries are dead. Has happened before.. twice. Not fun.

ambi-dexterous.

Yup, never throw away the corded mouse. Never know when the wireless might glitch up.

I was considering re-chargeable batteries. Pretty cheap nowadays. My girlfriend has a set of 4 that re-charge in only 15 minutes! $20 for the batteries and the charger.