Great advice there, Downrazor11. I'm in the same boat as ShredJim. I have the original 11R and PT8, and honestly, am content with both.

However, my computer is nearing its expiration date. Upgrading it and still using my old software and hardware is likely a losing proposition.

I've talked to some computer gurus that have said they might be able to build a hot rodded PC with Windows 7, and one even suggested possibly cloning my hard drive.

This is way beyond my limited understanding of computers. The possibility that there will be problems makes me reluctantly want to just buy another 11R to get the latest version of PT's.

It's $699 on Sweetwater, but surprisingly it is out of stock. It does say more are on the way, so who knows? Maybe Avid is still cranking these out?

Here's the catch - the Sweetwater page says it comes with a one year subscription to PT's. My question I've emailed about is, what happens at the end of that year?

Can I no longer use PT's, or do I get no more updates?

I found a page and what I want is a 'perpetual license.' If that 11R comes with one, I may (somewhat needlessly) buy another one in a few months.

Here's a FAQ:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/FAQ/Pro-Tools-Licensing-FAQ#PerpetuaVsSubscription