I recently decided that I will be either building or buying a cnc machine, however I need to buy a computer in the next week. I am curious if there is anything I should ensure the computer has so that it will be flexible and work with the most number of cnc machines. I would hate to limit my options because the computer I bought doesn't have the ports needed for some machines, or worse yet, have to buy another computer all together!
I am hoping a laptop will do. I have cds for both linux and windows xp, so I don't think the os will be a problem. So, what should I look for when buying a computer that will someday be used to control a plasma cnc machine?