Milt - why are you using the time to open the profile screen as a proxy for your computer performance? I just did it for grins (mine and yours), and it took more than 20 seconds - all time waiting for the host (and the associated bbs software) to run. This had little/nothing to do with how fast my computer runs.
Time to launch a program or perform an internal task is a reasonable proxy. I'd start there.
To find out how fast your internet connection is running, try one of these:
http://www.dslreports.com/stest
And consider using Firefox 2.0. IE is pokey.
EDIT: Oops, I see that you already do.
Don