So, it's not the battery. I've pulled everything out of the PC - got down to mobo and proc. It beeps appropriately at the lack of memory. I then tried with different memory to see if that changed anything. (It's actually pretty hard to tell given the lack of a consistent response from the machine. See below.) Got a diskette error, so I plugged the card reader back in - no joy. I disabled it in the BIOS - no joy. Hard drive plugged in/unplugged - no joy. Using the onboard VGA after pulling the video card, wireless card, and tv tuner card - no joy.
I'm pretty comfortable saying it is the mobo given the variety of responses and the elimination of so many variables. The first pic is of the screen at POST that asks if you want to enter setup or the boot menu. The second is actually the same, but it is trying to display the Dell logo. I mostly get a black screen - power on, fans turning, but no video out to the monitor, but I thought these were just great fun, so I had to share. I don't think I want to spend $50 on a refurb motherboard to put into this seven year old computer. At least I could listen on the KG-UV8D while I was working. (I even see a red UV-3R reflected in the first picture. It's like ham radio Easter Eggs.)
Decision time... I still think I need a Windows PC and my laptop won't last forever given its problems. So, a cheap laptop or a cheap desktop. My XYL needs something, too. She primarily uses the iPad, but uses the desktop for working from home and occasional tasks related to eBay or consignment sales.
