Yes, Mike's system is not budget from my standpoint. I already have the Minolta Scan Dual III, windows xp pro, photoshop 7. i am considering upgrading my printer to a epson 2200 and am undecided on the computer and monitor. for the computer and monitor combined total I wanted to find as cheap a system as would currently do the job. the main reason my current laptop (described above) doesn't cut it is that the screen goes dark or light depending on the angle of view (if someone could explain why this is and whether the newer LCDs have the same problem), and I need a little more power and hard drive space. Maybe i should get another monitor to plug into the laptop instead for a less expensive solution. hmmm.