In Luck-Need expert consultation

[Bob]

Looks like my insurance is going to replace my computer.  Need expert
advice.

should I go with an ASA computer: (Athlon, I saw an add in Linux Journal)

CPU AMD ATHLON XP 2400+ 256K 266FSB THOROUGHBRED B...(AXDA2400BOX)
MEMORY 512 MB DDR PC2100(5MD21NUHG)
FLOPPY DISK 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE(FLOPPY)
HARD DISK IDE 120GB 7200 RPM ATA100 8 MB CACHE (3 YEAR W...(I-012-07-0-8)
VGA (ONBOARD VIDEO PORT) GEFORCE2 MX200 32MB AGP 2D/3D
VIDADPT(3DFORCE2_MX-32)
NETWORK (ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK PORT) NETGEAR FA311 10/100 PCI RJ45
NIC(FA311)
CD ROM 52X CDROM(CD)
DVD/CD-RW DVD AND CDRW COMBO(DVD-CDRW-COMBO)
KEY BOARD None
MOUSE Logitech 3 Button Regular Mouse(lg3o)
MODEM/SPEAKER 56KBPS;V.90 Modem(Modem)
MONITOR None
OPERATING SYSTEM LINUX 0/S (SPECIFIY FLAVOR AND VERSION)(LINUX)
MOTHERBOARD  ASUS A7N266 MOTHERBOARD.
CASE  Med Tower ATX. 300W Power Supply.
SOUND  Onboard Sound.

Slower system, but a real modem and a bigger hard drive.  The Dell is on the
refurbished list so this one may be gone when I get OK, but they'll have a
comparable one, I'm sure.

Or a Dell:

    SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
    Dimension 8250 (System Identifier FLVAE5E0)
    Dell Dimension 8250: Pentium? 4 Processor at 2.4GHz with 533MHz system
bus/512K L2 Cache, Integrated Audio and NIC
Microsoft? Windows XP Home

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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System Price $1,004.00
Promotion Discount ($225.00)
Discounted Price $779.00
Dell recommends Microsoft? Windows? XP


   Operating System: Microsoft? Windows XP Home
   Memory: 512 MB PC1066 RDRAM (2 RIMMs)
   Floppy Drive: 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
   Hard Disk Drive: 120 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
   Video: 64MB GEFORCE4 MX 420 with TV Out
   Modem: 56K Telephony Modem for Windows-Sound Option
   CD Read-Write Drive: 40X/10X/40X CDRW Drive
   DVD Drive: 16X DVD-ROM
   Software: Resource CD
    Software
    DPS Paint Shop Pro Try and Buy Software
    Music Match 7.1 Software
    Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day introductory offer
    WordPerfect Productivity Suite 10.0
    Quicken - New User Edition 2002
    AOL 8.0 ISP Software
    DVD Software
    Britannica Software
    Image Expert Standard Software
    Dell Support 2.0
    Dell Support 2.0
   Misc: QuietKey Keyboard
    Logitech PS2 Mouse
    Shipping Material

 Seems a shame to have to pay for all the M$ crap.