Jofm and Blade - many thanks to both of you for the info - I'm afraid I began to lose the plot somewhat in your second post though Jof
I had a fair idea of cost Blade - don't want to go that high - spent a fortune on last two desktops and laptop - all from Dell - great quality but it's rather like buying a car in terms of depreciation I think
Incidentally, my main problem is with space - taken up by music and pics - have either of you any suggestions re external hard drives? Unsure whether to go for portable or desktop if I do go down that route. I'm also tempted by the online storage facilities available althugh I think it's advisable to use that for backup as well as convenience when using the laptop.