<p>My experience with HP, especially older models is that it is difficult to upgrade, either processor or memory. My best educated guess is that it would not be upgradable past 512 ram, and that since it probably only has two slots for ram, you'd have to remove the existing ram you have and purchase two new 256 chips. Don't know the cost of that but likely at least $150, and then you'd still be stuck with the old processor, and probably a slow hard drive which also has a very significant effect on programs and muti tasking. I'm pretty sure too, with that amount of ram that your current computer won't run XP. Buying XP will add another couple hundred bucks.</p>
<p>I used to upgrade my computers a lot to save money or get better performance. And I even built a number from scratch, but these days, except for the fun of it, it's really just not worth it. The cheapest computer you can get will be way faster than your current pc given what you can do with it.</p>
<p>Look, you already have a monitor and probably some other peripherals. Check your local newspaper for specials. There are many bargains that start very very cheaply. Of course the cost increases when people start adding a big new monitor, or decide they want better performance. It winds up that the advertised computer winds up as a "come on" to get people in the door and then push them up. However, if you just stick to that base advertised model they are advertising (and especially if you can get them to delete the monitor) you will get a computer with much better CPU, more ram, probably faster HD and Win XP Home. It'll have far better performance than yours, even after upgrades. (personally I'd avoid if you can a celeron processor- never liked them, but you may not be able to)</p>
<p>Just one more thing, if this is for college, most schools require XP Pro or Media Center for use with their network. So get a computer with XP Pro or find out the cost to upgrade.</p>