My first post!

So I recently purchased a 2000 Mazda 636 ES-V6. LOVE IT! However, the car is far from perfect, and I recently encountered major issue #1.

When I purchased the car, I asked the owner why the stereo wasn't working (Sony Xplod CDX-MD70) and he said that it drained, and killed, his last battery and he never bothered to get it fixed, and decided to leave the stereo disconnected. I examined the deck, and saw that it was indeed connected, but the 10w fuse in the deck itself had blown. So I after about a week with the car, I replaced the fuse and Voila! stereo was working. (side note: not sure if any of you has this particular deck, but it is SWEET. Seriously, the sound from the stock speakers produced by this stereo is absolutely incredible).

Anyway, 2 days after replacing the fuse, the battery light came on, and a day later, the car promptly died in my driveway. So, based on what the previous owner told me about the deck killing the battery, I uninstalled the stereo and bought a replacement battery. The car started and ran fine on the new battery... for about 1 hour of driving, then promptly died again.

I guess this means I have an issue with my alternator? Is it worth noting that while driving with the new battery and the A/C was NOT working? I am assuming that the alternator issue is a problem, so I am going to *attempt* to remove it myself and bring it to get rebuilt.

So after all that, i guess my questions are: what is going on with my car? Is there anything wrong with my stereo? If it is the alternator, what does it look like and where under the hood can I find it and how do I go about removing it?

Clearly, I don't know much about what I am talking about. Thanks in advance to all who reply!