So I'm thinking about upgrading my PC (see my other topic on reboots) but there are a couple of things holding me back.

First - Hardware. I've got some old legacy stuff that I really like and would hate to give up. I don't know if I can get a new machine that supports them. These include:

1-An IBM keyboard with a built in Trackpoint Mouse (Very comfortable for word processing). It requires a mouse port and a keyboard port - Are these still available?
2- A US Robotics external 56K FaxModem. Not for dialup but about every two months I have to send or receive a fax. It rqures a Serial Port - Is that still available?
3- An HP Scanjet SCSI Scanner. We use this every day for scanning, copying, faxing. It requires a Type I or Type II SCSI card. Will I have a problem using this in a new machine?
4- An HP Laserjet 5 printer. Old, B/W only but real solid. I'm real fond of this baby. I guess I could use it as a network printer (it's got an ethernet port) but it's currently connected via a parallel port.

It seems to me that all the new machines I've seen have nothing but USB ports. I've already got a USB laser mouse, a connection to my Treo, my wife's Palm pilot and our digital camera on USB. How much can you cram on that bus?

So, first question - can I get a PC with legacy hardware connections?

Second sticking point - the OS. Vista sucks. We have some machines at work with it and they just bite.

I would think about going to a MAC but besides the hardware I've got too many files on software that's probably not compatible. I know Excel and Word can be read by MACs but how about Paperport, Visio, dbase, Wordperfect & DeScribe?

Anybody have any suggestions?

TIA,

Sam

"Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?"