Hi,
I was hoping I could get some advice. I don't have much money, about $400 to spend. I have this old Dell Dimension XPS T700r. I had some trouble with it (including spyware issues that Grindler helped me get rid of ) and maybe a bad hard drive.

All I really need is to run MS Office, surf and photo stuff. What should I look for when deciding? I already bought Windows XP, I know if I kept this machine I would need more RAM (only 128 now) and the student edition of MS Office

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Thanks!
~Robin

I would buy RAM from one of these three companys:
(just plug in your computer specs, and they'll give you options)

Crucial
Kingston
Corsair

If your going to be doing some photo editing, I'd try to go at least 256 on the RAM (512 would be better).

You may not need to buy MS Office.
OpenOffice.org is an free, open source alternative to MS Office, and most files created in OO.o are completely compatible with MS file types. A new release tentativley scheduled for mid-September will add an Access-type module, further enhance MS Office compatibility, and expand its spreadsheet application to the same number of cells as Excel. In addition to a spreadsheet, a word processor, and a presentation module, OO.o allows you to save any document in PDF format with one action.

See this comparison between OO.o and MS Office:

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1571626,00.asp

Regards,
John

I get spanked for recommending EBay ram but I have not received a bad stick yet. You will need 256mb sdram PC100 100mhz 16x8 low density 16chip 168pin for the computer you POSTed. The max you can put in that machine is 768 mb. Put towo 256mb sticks and keep the 128mb stick. That should be about $100.
If you need a video card look for a M440 Nvidia. For the right price a 64meg should do you alright.
Check here for a HD...Justdeals