Steinbergusers.com: Virtual Studio Instruments -- Need Help

I am a music hobbyist and don't plan to produce any music for professional distribution. Am not a member of a band and play the keyboard for my own amusement. I dabbled in computer music about 10-15 years ago but nothing since then, so I still pretty much of a newbie. Am about to retire and have become interested once again in computer music.

I just bought a copy of Sequel and also received Cubase LE with the Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro sound card and I/O console that I just bought. I haven't installed any of these yet. I have a Fatar (Studiologic) Studio 1100 88-key keyboard controller, which I'll attach to the MIDI In port of the I/O console. My primary interest at the moment is using the keyboard to produce sounds of the "piano family" (acoustic piano, electronic piano, organ, harpsichord, etc.).

I'm very interested in "The Grand 2.0" software. Is that compatible with Sequel (or Cubase LE), or do I need to upgrade to Cubase Studio 4 (or Cubase 4) in order to use it?

I'm also interested in the "Halion Symphonic Orchestra" software. I may purchase it sometime in the future after I have familarized myself with Sequel and Cubase LE because I'm interested in learning more about orchestra arrangement, so I have the same questions about that as for "the Grand 2.0."

One more question: I enjoy listening to certain kinds of bluegrass music, namely arrangements that include a banjo. Does the "Virtual Guitarist" software include the banjo, mandolin, and resonance guitar as instruments? I'd like to compose some bluegrass music using my keyboard (since I don't play the banjo or any guitar-like instruments).

My current computer is a Dell Dimension 9200, OS Windows XP Home SP2, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 DIMMs), two 500GB S-ATA Hard Drives (7200 RPM) in a backup RAID configuration, 256MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS video card, and the Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro sound card + I/O console (for my MIDI connection).

If I get "The Grand 2.0" software (and, later, the "Halion Symphonic Orchestra"), I will probably add a S-ATA 10,000 RPM hard drive (or something similar) to house those files.

I would appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks!

Gordon