[wally_bert]

I still use a CD ROM version of monopoly.

XP boxes I found cheap on EBay when I was looking for one a couple of years ago.

I paid maybe a hundred dollars for an XP gaming laptop as it was billed.

Still powers and plays.

It does not get any network access. I think the network card is messed up because even a straight cable connection, zero connection.

[Tell It Right]

You'd be better off never getting the network card of your XP box fixed. XP no longer gets security updates. But you'll be fine as long as you stay disconnected.

My laptop is 4-years-old and think of it as a more modern "gaming" laptop. It's never billed as such. But it has as much power under the hood as a gaming laptop did 4 years ago, minus the video enhancements. I use it to run a small DB service that I collect both market prices and data from my solar inverters so I can study the results and every now then look for tweaks to improve things on money coming in (investments) or reduce money going out (need the grid less if solar works better for our power habits).