The Back Burner Business Tribe may have someone in your area. I don't remember the URL but I'm sure you can search it up in a moment.

Sas

I can't give you advice on where to find a tribe. I can give you expert advice on computers, that's what I get paid for.

If you'elookingto replace your ThinkPad with another, newer, then it's just a matter of finding what you want. Mind you, you will be paying for the IBM brand name. I presently have a Toshiba Tablet PC, and I love it! IBM does make a tablet right now, and I don't think it's as good as the Toshiba. Tochiba is using Wacom tachnology in their tablet PCs and that's tried and true.

More Thinkpad info: www-131.ibm.com/content/ho.../index.html
It justcomes down to price and what you need in a laptop.

Thanks... I think back burners and black rock are two different tribes...and I cant afford to outright replace my laptop. I need to erase the hard drive, and start over. It was my hope to add RAM and Windows XP or other alternatives. I'll check them out... Shell

I'm a pro who does this kind of stuff for a living. Offhand, without knowing the model and the hardware installed, I'd say that if you're running Windows 98 on it, it would likely be too many leaps to bring it up to Windows XP, the current operating system. While in many cases it would theoretically work, there are too many possibilities for things (especially display drivers) not working properly, and connections such as USB ports not working completely.

But if by "upgrade" you're talking about getting a new computer, I saw some Gateways for sale for about $700. I tend to recommend against Dell and HP laptops due to their tendency to overheat. If price is not a problem, I'd go for a Toshiba Satellite. They're well-made and seem to be pretty much error-free.

Then bring in a good anti-spyware/adware technician such as myself to protect your system before you go online. Forget Norton and McAfee -- all they do is slow down your computer and let spyware/adware in anyway. I provide these services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Not sure who you'd go to where you live, though. Avoid Geek Squad at all costs: too expensive, and last I heard they were guaranteeing their anti-spyware work for just THREE DAYS.

if you have any cute boys you can barter with, there's the "gay geeks" tribe. :) I'd offer some conrete help but I'm not familiar with the Thinkpads.