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MONITOR - The Samsung TFT monitor is the most expensive single part in my current setup but is worth the expense, I had previously been using a Sun 19" workstation monitor which although was very good was simply far too big for my desk. I had already had to add additional strengthening to stop the top bending but the main reason was it took up much needed space. I bought the Samsung because it performance was really good at a price I could afford, £310 for 17" quality TFT, just what I needed.

PRINTER - My Panasonic laserprinter I bought years ago to partner my first PC, at that time very few people had laserprinters at home but I realised the benefits would outweigh the lack of colour. I bought it from Makro in 1997 for £270, since then I've only filled it once with toner. That's one of the really good aspects of the KXP, you don't have to buy a full process unit when the toner runs out. It's quite fast, the text it prints is nice and crisp the only downside is that any pictures look decidedly second rate.

MODEM - The Diamond modem is another part that has been swapped from machine to machine, while ever I stick to dialup access there's no reason to change it. It's as fast as any other and considering that it cost £35 years ago I've really had my moneys worth.

SPEAKERS - So on to the speakers, at the time I bought these I already had a SoundBlaster Live card that was capable of outputting 4 channel sound so it seemed a logical upgrade from my second hand Yamaha's that I'd bought for my Amiga years before. They perform well for what they are, they cost less than £50 from Dabs in summer 2001 and so don't expect wonders. I have altered the way they are wired so that I can switch them off and listen through headphones via an Audiolab 8000A audiophile amplifier. The rear speakers are fastened to the arms of my office chair so that I can get all the benefits of surround sound with any fuss over speaker placement.

MOUSE KEYBOARD and CASE - The cordless Trust mouse was bought from Maplins as a sale item for only £20, the first stopped charging after 2 weeks but the replacements been fine. As for the keyboard it's a cheapie and I've no idea how I came by it or how much it cost, I would guess about £5. I'm no typist and so anything better would be wasted, as for multimedia keyboards with one button application launch I can only think why, what's the point?