[gfhq94a]

Hello Everyone,



I am seriously looking into my first laptop PC. But with the articles I have read as of late concerning Vista, I am not sure if I should even bother. On the one hand I am tempted to wait and for the new version of Windows to arrive and see what the reaction for it is before I buy. On the other hand I don't know if I really want to wait that long. Besides I recently read somewhere that XP didn't have the biggest fan base when it first came out. But at the same token, Vista has been out 2 years and I am still hearing the same thing. I'd look into an Apple, but I don't have that type of money and the programs I most enjoy are made for Windows. So I am really at a loss?:|.

Anybody have some thoughts?

Thanks for the help :8}

[Flashorn]

Hey gf!!



To tell you the truth , I was one of the last member on this board

to change over to Vista. If you are afraid of loosing some of your favorite

programs, well, don't. I keep finding new and interesting programs

that do a good job in Vista. I have NO regrets.

Windows 7 is not due out before 2010 and maybe longer. That's a

long time to wait if you are ready to try out a notebook and all of it's

advantages. By the time Windows 7 does come out SP2 for

Vista will probably be out also. SP1 in Vista did fix allot of bugs and is

a very stable platform. XP did have a rocky start and it was not until SP2

that XP had every little quirck fixed. To be honest, Vista is way ahead of XP

in all aspects. Yes, some of the security implemented in Vista can be annoying

at times but, I'd rather see it working in my favor than have some Trojan install

a new process that would cripple my notebook. On the subject of security, all

or almost all have working versions for Vista. I can tell you that we, here, have tested

allot of security programs and most are comfortable with Vista.

Some of your older ( 3years and more ) hardware will probably not be supported in

Vista. I have a HP OfficeJet 5610 that was bought in Mai of 2005 and all I had to do is

plug the USB cable in my notebook and Vista took care of the rest. No need to go and find

a new driver. It was already in here.. So, my experience with Vista was a Good one.

On the other hand , If you really want to stay with XP , then Toshiba Satellite Pro M300-S1002X

can still be ordered with XP Pro. Here is the link to Toshiba:

Toshiba Satellite Pro M300-S1002X .

It is a very capable notebook but, it still is XP.



I hope I have belated your fears somewhat about Vista. If you have anymore questions well,

you know where to find us.





FLASHORN. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[rgreen4]

I have three Vista machines, the first was an upgrade with the HP provided Vista Home Premium upgrade to my Media Center which came with XP Media Center Edition. I was going to wait, but the XP MCE gave me so much trouble I decided to go ahead and do a clean install and have not looked back. My second machine was a new laptop (also HP) that came with Vista Home Premium and I am using it to respond to you. My last machine was a self built and looking back I made a mistake in installing the 32bit Vista HP, I probably should have gone with the 64bit as by then all the 64bit driver issues have gone away.

I also have an old XP laptop that cannot be upgraded because of the low powered integrated video chip. I am an early adopter of Vista, and at one time a lonely voice on the community. But, since then several other of the regular members have gone to Vista and also like it. Of the most common responders on the community half use Vista either as an only OS or as one of several. I now use XP only to research specifics as to XP in response, as well as Windows 2000 for the same reason. I have one machine with all three OS's.

If you purchase a new laptop, I would recommend that you vist the retail stores, put fingers on the keyboards and find the one you like the best. Then I would recommend you vist the web site of the manufacturer and order exactly what you want on line. The retail stores have a limited amount of space and inventory, and like automobile dealers, have offerings with features that someone has decided will appeal to the vast majority of users. For example, the HP 17" laptops have two HD bays, but most of the machines in the retail stores have the second bay empty. While you can add a hard drive after purchase, it will cost you more for the tray and adapter as parts, than it will to get the second hard drive from the factory.

Prowl the websites of the manufacturers and see what each offers in the four predominate size. The ultra portables running with screen sizes from 12" to 13", the slightly larger but still very portable 14", then the one popular with students who have to carry one and also with road warriors 15.4" and finally the big boy that is more powerful, many of which have a second HD as an option the 17". The larger the laptop, the more it will weigh, but the more usable it will be.

Most manufactured PC's come with a large collection of bloatware (solftware trials, free software, and internet connection ads) which can be mostly removed with PC Decrapifier a free download that identifies and allows you select which ones to uninstall. They also come with either Symantec or McAfee internet security suites, which most of the regualr members do not like. I ripped Norton's Internet Secuity out by it's roots with the uninstall program and instead went with leaner free secuity software like Avast! anti-virus and SuperAntispyware anti-spyware. Other help in this area can be found in the Privacy & Security discussion area.

You are right that early on there was a wave of anti-Vista commentary and press, which has died down but not gone away. There was a similar wave against XP when it first comes out, and when Windows 7 is released I fully expect a similar antI-OS wave. Some with lower powered units have had trouble with Vista, but today the machines come with much more memory. I think you would be hard pressed to find a machine with less that 2GB of memory, and Vista runs beautifully in 2GB and will run adequately in 1GB.

[gfhq94a]

Thanks for the information. Its has been of great help. I am currently using a desktop and had never cosidered a laptop until recently. In fact I actually got on my friends case for getting a laptop since he really didn't have a need. But I realize that a laptop with a router would allow me to go from room and continue to surf the net. Besides I don't have a TV in where my computer is located and I hate running in and out of here during commercial breaks. The simple solution would be hooking up a TV, but I don't need the hassle of getting a digital cable box. Especially when my cable company is slowly eliminating analog channels forcing people into getting a cable box either way. I figure by February of 2009, the only channels that will be available without thoughmy cable company a cable box will be the local broadcast channels.

Thanks again.