What Type Of Computer To Get?

After months of debating (and saving), I have finally taken the plunge into the CCD world. The equipment is a MI-250 with a C8 & C11, Optec TCF-S,ST-8XME, AO-7. All of this is housed in a permanent site with AC power. Now I have to get the "brains" for the setup. Question is, what type of computer-laptop or desktop PC? I'm in Minnesota so it does get cold! I'm concerned about a slow response time with a LCD screen on a laptop.

Also, anybody have any suggested miniumum hardware specs? I would rather over build in this area. I don't want to hear myself say "For $40, I should have bought the faster CPU."

Is it possible to set up a wireless network so I can be in my house and control the setup?

Thanks
Chris
Cedar, MN

Thanks for all the advice. I should have mentioned that I have a non-internet (internet always seem to screw up my computer) 2004 Dell Dimension 8400 (3.2G/P4 1.5G RAM, 128MB graphics card) inside. Seems like if I use a laptop outside to aquire the raw image, I could bring the file insde and process it on the Dell. That way I could use an inexpensive (used) laptop for scope control and image aquisition. Am I right?

Regarding the comment on starting out with a SCT, I always do things the hard way. I have had the C8 and C11 for a long time so I had to decide where to spend the money. I decided to get a good mount and camera first. I figure I can always get another OTA to put on this mount if I want to.