[Randallw]

Well the technical guy at one of the shops said they can't give me a 120mm fan but I don't think it is necessary any more. The ones they had on display made no real noise I could hear, granted I am half deaf. He said stuff about bad bearings on old ones and needing to cool the processor which isn't needed so much now with dual and quad core.

The Quad core one they had was way too expensive, and I am willing to pay well for a good one that will last. I think the major addition was a HD-DVD/Blue ray drive I don't have any interest in. He was telling me the HD-DvD was worth it alone as it would cost A$1500 to add it later. Obviously out for a commision I think.

Another store had a quad core without that stuff but the young guy there couldn't tell me what it lacked (ie better than generic hardware) that made it so cheap.

I know people said Quad core isn't necessary and I discussed that with the guy but might it be worth it since the computer is to last 3, maybe 4, years?. Starting with Quad core might let it last longer as future software is built with it in mind.

On a related note. Interesting story. When I went to the first store the salesguy trying to get me to take the Quad core hog with HD-DvD drive, was stunned when I started discussing technical stuff.
"You'll have to talk to my manager" he said. So I start talking with the manager who could discuss technical stuff and he got annoyed when he realised the salesguy had dissapeared off to lunch it seemed. His words were I think
"he has to learn to stay and learn if he wants to stay in my computer department" the salesguy was older than the manager, who didn't appear that young.

Incidentally, can anyone explain if Vista Ultimate is the best? The computers I saw all come with Ultimate. I asked if despite being "ultimate" that still meant it was the worst version. I know as they go up in quality they include components that might not be necessary for someone who just wants to use it at home.