Again, George, many thanks. I am specifically looking at a laptop rather than a desktop machine, so would imagine that card expansion is not quite as easy. Nice to know about the usb3 though, thanks. Probably means most of my other hardware will need investigating at the same time. Printers and scanners are very reasonably priced these days so shouldn't be a major issue. Regards, Mark Threadgold Of all the things I have ever lost, The one I miss most is my mind... -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of George Bell Sent: 07 June 2011 13:01 To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: 64 bit systems Hi Mark, I have to run some fairly old software here myself, and have always kept one or more older systems to hand. However, I'm finding that in fact I only have one application which won't run on my system, and that's for managing our not so very old Nortel telephone system - which BT want almost £600 to upgrade!! I think the oldest application I have and use regularly dated 1997, and is PageMaker desktop publishing. It pretty well works as it always has. With hardware, bear in mind that most will not come with a Parallel printer port, but if you have say an older braille embosser without a USB connection, Maplin's USB to Parallel cable for around £25 is a lot cheaper than a new printer. Don't forget that provided you get a system with spare expansion slots, you can always get various cards quite cheaply. On the USB front, USB 3 is now out, and is much, much faster if say you are backing up to an external hard drive. If the systemn you decide on doesn't have USB 3, you can just add a card. George. ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq