61.   Customers buy a computer based on their belief in the future of the platform.

62.   Dave Smith, a Jupiter man who studied chemical engineering in college and now works in marketing, bought a computer for Christmas.

63.   Davies lays out what to look for in buying a computer.

64.   Davies bought a computer to help pass the time and planned to retire and travel last year.

65.   Early market research showed such software would be one of the fast-growth areas for multimedia because most of the people buying computers were young parents.

66.   Even so, the next month or so seems a particularly poor time to buy a computer.

67.   Even so, remember that buying a computer creates a hole in your wallet that will leak for years to come.

68.   Explain that you plan to buy the computer -- without further bargaining -- from the store with the lowest price.

69.   Folks who buy these computers will need to get printers, scanners and other components that have a USB connection.

70.   For Alisa, Thomas bought a computer and delivered it himself.