Popular Upgrades:

Windows XP Pro. Win XP Pro has enhanced features and networking capability. Upgrade from Home Edition costs about $50 to $75 extra.

CD-RW's are fairly cheap and worth the money

A single DVD±RW drive. Consider upgrading to a single DVD±RW drive, which can burn and play CDs and DVDs of various formats, if you can spare the extra $50 to $100. With their 4.7GB capacity, writable DVD drives are quickly supplanting tape and CD-R backup methods. DVD multiformat drives can also burn CD-R and CD-RW formats.

A 120GB, 7,200-rpm ATA hard drive. This hard drive should be more than enough for employees' storage and speed needs.

A 19-inch CRT or 17-inch LCD. A 19-inch CRT is worth the extra expense, though some major vendors ship PCs with 17-inch LCDs for reasonable prices. If space is limited, go for a 15-inch LCD over a 15- or 17-inch CRT.

A multifunction printer. A single system to print, fax, scan, and copy, such as the HP OfficeJet 6110, is ideal for home or small-office setups.