= new reply since forum marked as read
Or could they be practicing for the real thing?
Live in central PA cable been out since 12 o'clock.
But as I discovered, my standard definition channels were still working (the lower channel numbers) but the hi def channels were out (the channels in the many-100s and the 1000s).
The internet was acting flakey (some of the sites were slow to load and others like Google were fine). My weather station hadn't reported in to WU for an hour when I had checked it and realized something was up. Now my internet is okay except for mail still being out.
The cable channels work on certain frequencies/bandwidths and there may have been a filter limiting the high def to allow some kind of traffic through for the standard def on the cable part of the network (at least for some locations). The guide is probably a low bandwidth graphic thing.
It's not your TV!!! 
I confirmed both my sisters have no cable tv service at all but it could be because both have X1 boxes and I have an older cable box with a dvr built in. 
<EDIT TO ADD: my sisters just got their cable service back. They were freaking because. Kids. Husbands. 
>
Regarding the SSD - I have found that the sizes are much smaller than the standard SATA drives and computers (both desktop or laptop) cost more if they have them (and even more for larger capacity ones). It will depend on what you do with your computer regarding the best specs. I.e., if you stream alot and/or game, you might want to go for more RAM and a better video card. If you store movies or alot of photos/images, you may want a bigger drive. They do have SSDs in laptops but usually the higher end like the desktops.
The processor speeds have pretty much topped out at 3 ghz or less (and most are running @ 2.0 - 2.4 ghz). None of that should impact your internet speed per se (unless you are doing multiple hi def streams) but you want to make sure you have a gigabit network card (although your modem/router would also need to be able to do that speed too to get the best throughput).
If you are are burning cds or still use DVDs, I think it's useful to have a drive although you could always buy one separately. I think most if not all computers have some sort of microSD card reader built in and all have USB connectors if you need to add an external reader or hub.
I have been using an 1-7 laptop because I stream stuff in my internal network (got it from Staples which may be an option unless you are boycotting them ).
The "noisy" HP is due to the fan and their "cooling" thing that activates (-at least for laptops, my desktop doesn't make noise although the fan will come on if the case gets warm).
Neither the number of cores nor the 2.4 vs 2.5 ghz shouldn't impact your surfing (my desktop has 4 cores and I run SETI on it - thus the fan coming on occasionally... ) but if you are streaming or gaming, you might see some better performance assuming what you are doing is coded to even use those 4 cores for multi-threading, etc.
Again assuming you are not storing a bunch of large files, you could go on and get a computer with a SSD. The OS may take up a chunk of that space and usually they will include a partition on them to restore the OS back to factory condition in case something goes wrong.
Have never had an ASUS (but have an older Acer netbook), so can't speak to that model.
and the robocalls never cease on the landline (but get zapped thanks to my call blocker unit).
including mail - 3 different counties in SE PA!