Need help, t hinking about buying a laptop....

[HumbleMan]

Hp is running a good deal on laptops, and I think I'm going to break down and buy one, but I've got a few questions and you guys are the gurus, so if you don't mind......

I want to go wireless in my house. My desktop is an eMachines with an AMD processor, 512mb of RAM, running XP Media Center, IP through Comcast Cable.

The laptop I'm thinking about runs Vista Home Basic, 1gb RAM, and has an Intel Celeron processor. I can upgrade to a Pentium Dual Core, but would rather not due to the price right now.

Are these two systems compatible?

Also, there's times I may be where I won't have wireless coverage, and would need to go to broadband, probably through AT&T. How does that work? How do they charge for using their network? I've tried looking at their website, and it really didn't help.

And my last question (for now), will open source programs like Firefox and Open Office work with Vista?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[micro]

Hp is running a good deal on laptops, and I think I'm going to break down and buy one, but I've got a few questions and you guys are the gurus, so if you don't mind......

I want to go wireless in my house. My desktop is an eMachines with an AMD processor, 512mb of RAM, running XP Media Center, IP through Comcast Cable.

The laptop I'm thinking about runs Vista Home Basic, 1gb RAM, and has an Intel Celeron processor. I can upgrade to a Pentium Dual Core, but would rather not due to the price right now.

Are these two systems compatible?

Also, there's times I may be where I won't have wireless coverage, and would need to go to broadband, probably through AT&T. How does that work? How do they charge for using their network? I've tried looking at their website, and it really didn't help.

And my last question (for now), will open source programs like Firefox and Open Office work with Vista?

Thanks in advance!!

#1What do you mean by "compatable"? Do you mean "are they just as powerful as each other", or do you mean "will all my programs and internet work on both systems?

The laptop will be more powerful since it is newer and has newer hardware. Yes your internet, or any external devices such as usb, ipod etc will work on both.

#2 Since you already have cable internet, you would either need to hook up your laptop up to your cable router via a lan cable. (your laptop is already set up for this) This will hook up into the same type of port that your pc is connected to. There is no additional charge for running two computers off of one cable internet box.

If you want to set your laptop up on wireless, you would just simply have to go buy yourself a wireless internet router. Try to buy a better brand such as lynksys or netgear, avoid cheap ones like belkin. Then your laptops onboard wireless card will connect through this router, kjust like if you had taken it down to your local coffee shop.

#3Firefox will work with vist, i dont know about open office.



Hp makes a good laptop. Rember that vista uses a lot more ram and other computer reasorces than xp. So your laptop wont be much faster than your pc, if at all. ! gig is the bare minimum i would use with vista. But that setup looks like it wil be fine

I hope i answered your questions to your liking.

 

[Jenn4God]

I would definitely get more RAM before anything because Vista alone takes 1 GB to run smoothly. I just had to add another GB to mine and I already had 2 GB. It doesn't matter what the types of computers are or what version they run as long as they are both windows you will still be able to share files. My desktop is XP and my laptop is Vista and everything runs good. Any programs you can run on XP can also be run on Vista. As far as wireless service for when you travel, I've heard that Verizon is the best.

 

[wiggsfly]

Just to update on OpenOffice, versions after 2.2 run fairly well on Vista.

As for the Ram issue, 1GB will be OK so long as your aren't playing a lot of games or doing a lot of heavy processing such as Photoshop, etc. If you need a quick speed boost for a short period of time try getting a USB thumb drive as Vista can use it as extra ram.

 

[Jenn4God]

Yeah, Photoshop was my issue. But if something like that can cause lag then it's quite possible other things will as well. 1GB will be enough to start off but eventually you are going to need more regardless. Vista uses more and more as time goes by because of all the updates. There are quite a bit of updates because Vista is still buggy.

 

[TheReasoner]

I would definitely get more RAM before anything because Vista alone takes 1 GB to run smoothly. I just had to add another GB to mine and I already had 2 GB. It doesn't matter what the types of computers are or what version they run as long as they are both windows you will still be able to share files. My desktop is XP and my laptop is Vista and everything runs good.

Vista is getting better. I still do not think it is good enough. Certainly not in a corporate setting. At home, it may cut it. But I wouldn't use it. We have been testing it continuously to see if it is something we should accept into our network at work. So far, no way. It falls short on several issues.

Any programs you can run on XP can also be run on Vista.

Not true. There are numerous programs made for and working in XP that don't work in Vista.
Most will. Not all though.

 

[Jenn4God]

Can you name some?

 

[TheReasoner]

Can you name some?

GroupWise for instance. Sure the newest release is supposed to work. Doesn't always though.
Several of Microsoft's own management software doesn't work. Visionapp didn't work until recently.

When it went gold, it worked with 33% of the software we use at work. 33%... Now, it works with almost everything. But I still think it's a crappy OS.
Personally, right out of the box it is too cluttered. Too messy and ugly. You need to tweak it to avoid unnecessary distractions like the sidebar. That is, in my mind, unprofessional. Most users don't really know how to use a computer. Heck, some techies don't even know how to take care of one. For the vast majorit of users the popups that arrive in Vista at seemingly (to the user) random intervals are confusing and scary. Sure, it can be turned off. But most won't know how. The sidebar and the area down by the clock (gosh, forgot what it's called) are by default too cluttered with unnecessary icons. Taking resources and attention away from what should be done.

Vista requires a lot of resources just to run. And it does not make good use of your computer's hardware. It is not always friendly with Active Directory if on a laptop. It is not yet ready in a professional setting. And I wouldn't advice it in a personal setting.
If Ubuntu was a bit more user friendly, I would have no doubt about what to suggest. As it is not, I would say go with XP. It is a tried OS. It works very well, and is compatible with everyting you could throw at it as far as software for Microsoft Windows goes. Apart from a couple of games.

I'm with the critics on Vista. It's the worst OS Microsoft has made since Windows ME. Maybe almost as bad as ME.

 

[maisie325]

Apple is a good option, but it's a little expensive