Cox with cable modem--move your phone service to Cox as well.

For all those wanting to quote me out of context here goes:

I love Cox, really I don't think life would be worth living without my daily Cox fix.

With Cox the speed, at least where I am, is about 3 or 4 times faster than DSL. Plus you don't have to worry about the elements of nature as much with Cox. Ask a couple of peeps with DSL who well it works when it's raining or snowing.

Don't believe the crap the phone company ties to feed you. Try it and you'll love Cox too.

If you can get FIOS, get FIOS. Potentially much faster than cable or DSL.

We have neither of those vendors here, so I'll just say this: pay more attention to bandwidth rather than what sort of bundling deal they'll try to offer you.

And make sure you set the new computer up with Ad-Aware, Spybot and Avast anti-virus---and run them on a regular basis. It doesn't matter what sort of broadband you obtain---the portal to hell just got larger, so bigger demons (aka spyware, etc.) can slip through. Might want to protect against them ;)

Oh, and drop me an email. I might be able to help you obtain certain software for free. {wink, wink}

My DSL works perfectly when it's raining or snowing.

Of course, I live in Sydney, where precipitation is a thing of fond memory.

I had Verizon DSL, Verizon phone and DirecTV. I switched all three over to cable, Optimum on line, about 2 months ago and now pay $99/month for all 3 (with unlimited domestic phone calls and premium channels on TV). This is about a $700/year savings and the service is better. I don't think the cable is any faster than DSL but it isn't appreciably slower either.
In fact, I just paid my first bill yesterday and I noted only $4 in taxes and surcharges. My phone bill alone used to have at least $20 in vague charges for this and that. I remarked to my husband that the politicians won't allow this to go on for too long! So, get in on it while you still can...

I switched from Adelphia's cable modem service to Verizon DSL and I'm glad I did. I haven't noticed any drop off in speed, I've never had a problem with the connection during bad weather, and the customer service is great.

Cox Cable works pretty well, but definitely set up a firewall (ZoneAlarm works pretty well and its free for the basic package)...Ditch AOL..

I vote for Cox bundle as well and add a DVR to the mix (if you haven't already). It will revolutionize your TV viewing.

Oh yeah, and on your Pshop aspirations - you may need a class before you're proficient. It's not as easy as you may think for the newbie user. I took a class and it made a huge difference in my abilities.

Cable, not DSL.

I'm not sure I'd do phone service through them, though. Voice Over IP (VOIP) still seems like witchcraft to me.

I myself have a hardware firewall built into my router, and run XP pro. I get very little adware, spyware, etc. For good measure I format the hard drive down to the Master Boot record twice a year and reinstall the OS.

Nuke it from space. It's the only way to be sure.

Dammit Cartman, what the hell are you talking about?

If you can get FIOS, go for that. It's fiber optic internet and should be faster (low latency) and higher bandwidth than either cable or DSL.

I can't believe it, my co-worker just bought a car for $25031. Isn't that crazy!