On Tue, 2011-08-23 at 20:57 -0400, Thomas Dukes wrote:
.... The machines I have now have been rock solid and I bought them used. They are like me, old.
Just because something is old, one shouldn't automatically thrown it away :-)
You need to do a little on-line reading about USB (the effective replacement for Centronics (parallel) ports and RS232/RS423 serial ports. Also about the PCI replacement called PCI-Express.
The older ISA (now called PATA = Parallel ATA) has been replaced by SATA (Serial ATA). SATA has 3 speeds. Most new disks are either SATA 2 or SATA 3 speed.
Modern motherboards have on-board networking (Ethernet) and sound chips which replace the plug-in cards.
It is an exciting world out there, even if a little confusing with all the non-stop modern technology and new names to learn.
Why get second hand when new can be brought for little money, if you hunt-down a bargain. That is what I always do.
Centos 6.1 should be out soon so you can have a fresh start.