🚀 go-pugleaf

        To put my quandry in simple terms:  I'm looking for a computer,  
and
am not sure which one to pick up.  Therefore, I've decided to ask your
group (comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc) for reasons why to buy your favored system.
        To help you with your sale, here is the list of items which I'm
looking for in the computer:

        Budget:  $1500-2000.
        Computer must be new.  No reason to buy something used the way
computer technology is moving nowadays.
        Memory:  4-meg plus
        Hard drive: 80-meg plus
        Sound capability:  Very important.  Want stereo capability with  
the
ability to midi to/from computer and create music with computer.
        Color: Don't care, would like 256 but I have no problem with 16 or
64 colors.  Two colors would probably drive me crazy, but if it helps me
get my Sound capability (see above), I will put up with it for some time.
Screen must be normal size.
        Multimedia:  Could care less.  Maybe in a few years I'll be gaga
over it, but now I can do without it.
        Modem:  Necessary.  2400 baud modem good, thinking about 9600 or
14,400 bauds.
        Upgradability/Expandability:  Necessary.  If unable to upgrade,
extensive expandability must be workable option.  I am thinking of using
the computer for 5+ years, then giving it to charity and having THEM use  
it
for a good length of time, so the computer better be able to handle
extensive expansions and changes.
        Notes about the user:  The user is a Mac-nut who has decided that
he cannot afford the type of Macintosh he needs for the future.  My major
software needs are Word Processing, Communications, and Music-related
programs, with Utilities, Databases, and Graphic programs needed (although
they are of lesser importance).  I would like having a choice of fonts,  
and
wouldn't mind something that is able to use the document files (if not the
programs themselves) from my Mac-formatted (1.4 meg, of course) floppies.

        Also thinking of getting the Miracle keyboard teaching system and
am curious on whether I would be able to use it for composing and writing
music on the computer with other music software.

PC SYSTEM-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:

I know quite a bit about the software I would buy should I buy a PC, but
I'm curious as to how the stuff would work together.
1) How would Windows apps and DOS apps work under the DESQview (or other
alternates to Windows and MS-Dos)?
2) Is there anything that allows you to get around the 8-character limit  
in
naming your files?
3) I've seen adverts stating (or overstating) the near-impossibility of
upgrading PC systems (yes, it's the Apple Corp.)  Tell me, is it really
that hard, and how much help can I get when I get around to upgrading
and/or expanding my system?
4) I have many documents in the MS-Word 4.0/5.0 for Mac.  Is there a way I
can get them from the Mac Format into a PC-friendly format?  I'm thinking
about using a two-tiered system for Word Processing--Brief (shareware) for
basic WP and Ami Pro for advanced WP/database-type WP uses
5) How large is the average program?  How long do you expect an 80-meg (or
larger) hard drive to last before I outgrow it?

FINAL NOTES
        Please, don't post any answers/mail meant for me in the group,
since I don't have the access to the internet (or other nets, for that
matter) to the degree which I would like.  I will do two rounds per week
(you email letter, I email letter) to three or four people from your  
group,
so feel free to chat amongst yourselves and combine your expertise.
        Good luck and may the best system win.  I will post my purchase in
both comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc and comp.sys.amiga.advocacy.

Sincerely,
Donald Charles Hargraves
KAMCHAR@ibm.cl.msu.edu
[Note the capitalization of the first part of the address.  I've had mail
in the past which has bounced because the sender didn't notice (or know  
of)
this.]