gen - thanks for the education - I have a BFA in animation so I am mainly self taught all the computer stuff - laughed at the baby remark - for now I will stick to Mental Ray...

anthony77 - for what it is worth if your leaning towards Boxx - I have one I bought in 2006 - it has been great - although at this point everything is going 64 bit and I am missing out on some cool stuff - but not mission critical...

if I new more about PC's I would piece on together a lot cheaper than Boxx - but that's the price you pay for not having time to learn or money to spend kicking tires on other solutions.

Good luck all and thanks
dan