Does it need a higher-resolution display? Well if your eyes are as old and ill-focused as mine you'd have to say no. I run my 17" monitor at 1200x1024 and any more pixels would go completely unnoticed.

Does it need more storage? To be honest, I'd have to say that I'm always running out of disk space -- but that's more bad management than anything else. I just hate deleting stuff so I tend to end up with a disk that contains thousands of unused files, the contents of which are usually a complete mystery to me. I'm sure a well-organised person however, will have lots of free space on the 120GB drive that is now very affordable.

Things I would like to see however are:

Smaller PCs. The standard mini-tower case is a real pain.

It's too big to sit comfortably on a desk but if you stick it on the floor then it sucks up dust like there's no tomorrow and requires you to bend and strain when doing something as simple as changing a CD. I'd much prefer a slimline case that was little bigger than the CDROM or DVD drive that would dictate the absolute minimum width and height.

Quieter PCs. We've come a long way in bringing down the noise of the average PC but we've still got a long way to go.

Although the white noise of a fan and the modest whine of a hard-drive soon blend into the background when you're busy, it would still be nice if the only sound I could hear when working was the rattle of the keys and the chirping of the birds outside my window.

Some style!

They've done it with the Apple, they've done it with music CD players, in fact designers have turned almost every item of office and household equipment into something that's pleasing to the eye -- so what gives with this monolithic slab of computing power that we've ended up with?

Surely someone must be smart and artistic enough to convert the humble PC into a visually appealing piece of ergonomic excellence that makes people smile when they look at it.

Fortunately there's a dedicated team of amateurs who have performed some amazing case-mods. Unfortunately most of them are decidedly gaudy and, shall we say, more than a little severe in their visual impact.

What's your wish-list for the humble PC and what's the best case-mod you've seen?

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