Read the title again. When it comes to your tools, mainly your computer and your Internet connection, you do not want to be that. Spend the incremental amount of money up front so that you have the fastest computer and Internet connection you can without breaking the bank. In general, you should not be faster than your computer or have to wait too long for it to perform tasks.

Consider how much time you will spend online at your computer working away at your ‘untethered dream’. Let’s for example say that you’re doing something promotional that may involve visiting 100 websites. If you had to wait as much as even 10 seconds extra per site because your computer and/or your Internet connection was slow, then you would have just lost over 15 minutes. Doesn’t seem like that much? Well it can be if you’re starting your Internet side business while still working a full time job. You will want to maximize those precious few hours you have at the end of your regular day, because you’ll still to squeeze in some ‘normal life’ in there as well.

Let me throw out some real numbers to demonstrate how silly it would be to be too tight with the budget up front. The performance difference between 1GB and 2GB of memory on say a Windows XP system is tremendous. The difference in cost can be as little as US$15. BTW, we say if you can afford it, get 3GB. If you have a 64-bit XP system, spring for 4GB. And for your Internet connection, if you decide to go for DSL, the difference between a 1.5Mbps line and a 3.0Mbps may be as little as $10/month. Just get it. Of course, you should also investigate options like FiOS and even cable modem service if your local cable provider jacks up the download speeds in your area to compete with DSL.

PS> If you’re looking to buy a Windows system and would rather not get Vista, hurry, because Microsoft may still change their minds about extending the life of XP.