Brian
Are you the retrofitting type?
If the machine is mechanically sound, it may not be such a big risk, if you are willing to retrofit it to a PC eventually. It surely would be nice to get it talking to a PC first though. Heck my old 1980 Bandit could download and upload to a PC. As a matter of fact, that's the reason I bought my first PC
First you get good, then you get fast. Then grouchiness sets in.
(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)