Ed Bott who is a windows expert and a former editor of PC World has a great blog I often read. He some time back blogged about this subject, it is a very informative read as well as the comments area following it. I will provide a link. I know a lot of people that use various cleaner programs, and really it is a what works for one does not always work for someone else situation with them. Each person has different experience just as each user has different pc usage. The main reason for the caution in my post was simply to warn those that are not familiar with these products to know that there are situations that can occur that could really be unfortunate. Plus there are those companies out there that prey on novice users and put out junk products(all kinds of products). I think the greatest thing is when a person takes it upon themselves to educate and seek info and research deeply before taking on any kind of task! That is the real way to learn. Do your research and read all the pros and cons then you can make an informed decision. YES acting smart is definitely not being smart.... being smart is being informed and proceeding with caution (after major backups)! LOL Here is a link that might be useful: Ed's blog

this is a very broad request and you will get really varied responses because everyone has their preferences. For example I much prefer HP over Dell I have owned many HP with very good experiences but will not own a Dell because they are so propritary and my husband changed his entire office computer away from Dell and to HP. Dell has really gone through some changes and not necessarily for the better.That being said every one will have pros and cons against various companies so you really just have to go with what you find that fits the bill for you. Walmart and Sams have very good prices. I would not go with anything other than windows 7 64bit if they specifically told you to go with a newer pc. I personally prefer AMD processors over Intel but have had both and either would work, the AMD will generally be cheaper. If this is strictly for work from home I would go with a desktop much more comfortable to work from on a day to day basis and the monitor will be easier to view. You want at least 2 GB of Ram Probably at least a 250 GB hard drive bigger is better for storage. Any new pc should be equipped with what you need for connections purposes. Not knowing your specific work needs I would suspect any good quality new pc will handle your other needs as far as video and audio components. You will need to install all of your security programs which you likely have not dealt with since you use MAC. A new pc usually comes bundled with a trail version of something like Norton or McAfee, I personally fully remove those and go with either the free AVAST or Microsoft Security Essentials. You can use the built in firewall just need to turn it on, and then you can get free malwarebytes scanner to do your weekly scans for malware. These all really need to be up and ready on the pc before you ever connect it to the internet. Do NOT get anything with a celeron processor they are just not the top of the line and are lacking especially for a work machine. I generally do not recommend emachine brand, they will be the cheaper priced ones but they use the lesser quality insides. Many do not come with a monitor so you may have to buy that separately. I really prefer a flat LCD monitor over the older CRT monitors. Prices are pretty good on them now. here are a couple of examples available at walmart.com Desktop PC no monitor with this one Acer Desktop Bundle you will see dual core and quad core mentioned dual means it has 2 processors quad means it has 4 so of course the 4 would be much faster, most work can easily be done on a dual core. So either would probably work for you, hard to say for sure with out knowing the type of work. an Acer with monitor in the bundle Acer those should give you some idea of what specs you will be looking for. I have never bought a computer at a pawn shop not sure what you would be getting, I have bought used ones from a computer repair shop that repairs and builds computers and had very good luck there. If you have any local places like that you might check with them, and they build you one for a decent price. here is a nice bundle from bestbuy that includes a printer also Compaq Presario CQ5814 Desktop, 20" LCD Monitor & Inkjet Printer Package

Update on our experience with this range: Here to provide an update 5 years in. It's been a mixed bag. Still have the range and it still performs well overall. However, I have had some issues that have reduced my enthusiasm. I've now replaced the electronic panel twice and the fan designed to cool the panel also failed. I suspect that electronic panel will need to be replaced every 2-3 years. There is just not enough insulation between the heat sources and the electronic panel. There is a designated fan to keep it cool but I don't think it is sufficient. I also had the fan itself die. Thus far Jenn-Air have been pretty good about the repairs. The most recent situation was a couple of months ago and the control panel died rendering the oven unusable. Jenn-air paid for the parts and I had to pay for the labor. I doubt that support will continue into the future. Also where I live getting a competent tech to come out hasn't always been easy. One fo the companies that Jenn-air arranged to service the range was absolutely horrible and never bothered to show up at all. I think this design is flawed and makes me now weary of recommending this product. The other thing that has become more annoying is that the control panel and the knobs tend to get really grubby from cooking. Their location on the top rather than the front has advantages (harder for little kids to play with and accidentally turn on) and disadvantages (messy). I didn't seem to mind this initially but it bugs me more and more now. All of the non-electronic bits have held up really well (grates, burners, igniters, pan under burners etc.). The door is still operates very smoothly. If I had it to do over again I think I would splurge and go for the open-burner range I coveted at the time (Bluestar or Capital) and avoid all the fancy electronics.

Cultured granite is a cast polymer, a mixture of an unsaturated polyester resin, chip and dust (recycled stone particles), fillers and pigments. Cultured Marble: Calcium carbonates are used as the primary filler in cultured marble, Cultured Onyx: aluminum tri-hydrate (ATH) is used in the production of cultured onyx Cultured Granite: ATH combined with a mixture of specially formulated color chips is used to produce cultured granite. Forms are sprayed with a gel coat that provides a smooth, transparent and glossy finished surface. The molds are then filled with cast polymer and vibro-compacted to remove air trapped in the polymer matrix. Once the mix has hardened the product is removed from the mold, trimmed and polished. Since the surface gel coat is a relatively soft plastic it doesn't resist scratches and abrasions like natural stone or quartz countertops. Once the glossy surface has been damaged by scuffing or scratching it is virtually impossible to restore the original luster.