OK, I'm soldFollow

I've been surfing the various sites and have decided to give EQ2 a whirl thanks, in part, to your timely and thoughtful input. I also appreciated the quality of postings I read in this forum. It speaks well for the type of player I am likely to encounter in future Norrath.
I will be buying the basic CD at any rate but I am curious about a couple of things and I wonder if you all would take the time to enlighten me. I admit in advance to a certain laziness in my failure to troll all the threads here for the information I seek.

1. Is it worthwhile to try the free demo in advance of buying the CD? I've seen it badmouthed in a few places. Should I endure the lengthy download or just wait and jump straight into the game?
2. The graphics in the EQ2 videos are very nice. Is the whole game as is shown in the Sony videos or are they more like the cinematics in more conventional games? Doesn't make a significant difference, just curious. I'm not playing for the 'look'.
3. Can a computer that handles EQ automatically run EQ2? My OS is Windows XP and I have 512 megs of RAM with an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420. There is an uprade due in the near future but should I wait for that before trying EQ2?
4. Just how big is the EQ2 file with all expansions? My current EQ file is over 4 gigs. Again, not a selling point as space is not a problem but if I'm going to play both games (at least for a while) I may have to consider ~shudder~ partioning.

I thank you in advance for all serious replies. I'd also be interested in any additional info you might want to add that you think I'd be better off knowing. Not necessarily the merits of the game per se (I'll decide that on my own) but problems and/or attributes you may have discovered about EQ2. Thanks again.

EQ2 requires a high end machine. Personally, I am running a 2+ Ghz CPU, 2GB or ram and a 256MB ATI vid card. The game runs very smoothly with these specs.

Assuming available hard disk space, you shouldn't ever need to partition a drive with XP as an OS. EQ2 will live in a seperate set of folders within your Sony folder on your C drive. Thats where it wants to be, so no sense in making things harder on yourself!

Dowbnloading the demo will take some time and is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the game is about but it will tell you if your computer will run the game at all...

Good luck and welcome!

Keep in mind the movies you've seen are high-production videos and not actual game play. (unless you saw an actual gameplay movie)

There are customizable graphic settings in the game from plain to amazing. You'll find what works best for you and your machine.

When you create a character you'll also be given the choice of servers. Consider Najena, as we have a bustling popuation, guilds of all levels, stable economy, and players in almost every zone.

When you get there, look me up. I can help you get started with directions, guidance, gear upgrades, and some coin.

See you there!

Please check on that, I don't believe the MX series is supported by EQ2.