darkSpyro

Emulators are definitely worth using. I do it all the time.

My computer is hooked up to my big screen and I configured my comp to use a PS3 controller to play all of my games and honestly I can't tell the difference from the real thing and sometimes the graphics can even be configured to look better than on the original console. I can run PS1, PS2, N64 etc just fine even without slowdown. How much RAM does your Dell have?

I actually suggest running the game from an ISO otherwise the game may pause somewhat having to read from the disk. Also, it's noisy, at least for me.

Regarding memory cards - emulators will usually have them in a subfolder, card files 1 and 2 but you can choose not to use them if you wish. Usually you can make "save states," which are save files of the exact frame/place you were at. It's kinda cheap abusing it.

If you have a PS3, you can use the controller to play whatever (I can even move my mouse around with the L3 stick and start is a left click).

Regarding emulators, I suggest using PCSX or ePSXe. Some games may work with only one of them and there's been very few games I haven't been able to play whatsoever.

You will need the PSX bios file since it isn't distributed with the emulators (strange, eh?). It's called SCPH1001.bin. A quick google search for the term will lead you in the right direction. Normally the file is simply placed inside of a "bios" subfolder within the emulator's directory.

The only con i can really think of is that since every game plays slightly differently, one must tweak with graphics settings to make it perfect.

If you have any other questions let me know!

Forum Rules
These are the forum rules.

Don't swear or use offensive language.
Minor infractions of this rule will result in the words being censored or the post being deleted. However larger/often occurances of breaking this rule will result in either a temporary or permanent ban from the website. Please completely obscure swear words if you feel you absolutely must use them. That means if, for example, "hello" was a swear word then "h*llo" or "h****" are not sufficient.
Don't spam.
Pointless messages aren't useful, these will be deleted. There is a board specifically for spam but it does still fall under all the other rules, though I am slightly more leniant there. Advertising is counted as spam and is not allowed even on Stuff and Nonsense.
Only be one person
The use of multiple guest names and/or registered accounts to pretend to be more than one person is pointless and will likely confuse any other users of the forum. It is also generally frowned upon to have more than one registered account anyway.
Don't post links to illegal/pornographic material.
It's just in no way approriate for a website based around a game such as Spyro the Dragon. Anyone who does so will be banned immediately. Asking for ROMs will get you a swift ban as well though discussion is allowed as long as you aren't boasting about the fact or you're providing a method for others to get them no matter how cryptic.
Don't troll/flame other users.
Provoking other people intentionally or insulting them is not a good practice and such posts will be deleted.
Responding to these posts is ill-advised especially if they worked on you, instead just report the post.
Don't bump topics.
Topics on this forum do not purge so feel free to post in older topics as long as you have something worth saying; if your post is merely there to bring the topic to the top of the list and you have nothing useful to add to the topic, why would anybody else? This will be regarded as spam.
Posting in old topics that nobody has replied to in months is generally thought of as disruptive, but in the less active game specific forums this is not such an issue.
Be constructive with criticism
If you're going to post negatively in regards to any of the Spyro games (or other series) then give a reason as to why you dislike it. Merely stating the fact you don't like it is pointless and doesn't contribute anything.
Stay on topic
If you wish to discuss something unrelated to the topic then start a new one, in the correct forum of course. Posts that go off-topic will be deleted. Topics that are entirely off-topic will either be deleted or moved to the correct forum.
Don't post in a disruptive manner.
Writing entirely in captials, alternating capitals, captials at the start of every word, bold, italic or 1337 speek will be deleted or edited as it makes it difficult to read and is pointless to post in such a manner.
Use the edit button.
Posting several times in a row back to back is pointless, disruptive and a waste of space. Use the Edit button below your posts in order to ammend your previous post with what you would have posted, the topic is still marked as having new content.
Don't misuse the Report Post feature.
Reporting posts that have nothing wrong with them just wastes my time and will mean the removal of your ability to report.
Please use English
This is an English website and very few people here will be able to understand you if you use any other languages, this rule applies only to the general use of the forums, you can of course use other languages just not all of the time.
Abide by the above rules and you'll do fine here.

Do ya'll have a PS3 controller handy? If so, you may be able to simply plug it into a USB slot. With my computer connected to my bigscreen, I can't even tell the difference from the real thing - look and feel-wise.