New computer arrived, hooked up next to the other with the switch to go between them, no problems, have PE3 and Vegas Studio 8 on the new offline computer, along with my DVD burner and external hard drive ... everything is working and peachy keen, knock on my wooden head, this switch to go back and forth is the coolest thing I've seen in ages ... this is great! I'm amazed how SMALL the new computer is, almost twice as powerful as my other, half the size. By God, if PE3 hadn't crashed on the old one, I may never have gone this route ... so sometimes hassles are a blessing in disguise.
I guess the only question remaining is whether I get PE7. I'll read Steve's book and decide.