[ddouglass]

BandL, I am assuming you have read the computer requirements under Hoster section snice you have been a member here for 6 years. My feeling for the specifics you asked for is as follows:

Processor speed >1GHz - any slower and XP will bog the system down.

Hard drive - my choice would be to use an external for song storage and save the internal for the program requirements. So for an internal drive you can get away with a 30 - 40 GB. And the external 200 -250 GB.

If you intend on being able to import individual tracks from singer owned cds or adding all your cd+g songs to Hoster through this laptop then you will need a CD drive capable of reading CD+G and I would go with a Plextor. The alternative is to have a desktop with the Plextor drive and Hoster installed to import all of your CDs to that external hard drive. (Few more steps required but not going to list now)

No you do not need to convert your 700 CDGs to MP3+G. Hoster and Hoster Lite will import those tracks and convert them to KMA (compressed cdg)files.
The laptop doesn't have to be connected to the internet to install program, if you have a floppy drive or a memory stick to be able to complete the registration.
Hope this helps.