Thinking of getting a new desktop - questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about finally getting a new desktop (I have a 6 year old
Gateway that i've gotten as far as I can with upgrades). Obviously, any new
desktop will have Vista. I'm curious as to what people think are suggested in
terms of getting a computer that will work with vista since its been out a
good month or so now and people have a nice idea how it works with systems.

Specifically, how much video memory do I really need. I know Home Premium
requires 128 MB, but should i get more than that? I don't do gaming on my PC
(I have consoles for that). But is there any good reason otherwise to get
anything besides the integrated video or a 128 MB card?

That was my bigger question I think, but I'm also curious if people know
when to expect the first service pack. (As in, should I wait for it to buy a
new computer).

Thanks for your patience and answers!
 
mvaljean said:
Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about finally getting a new desktop (I have a 6 year old
Gateway that i've gotten as far as I can with upgrades). Obviously, any
new
desktop will have Vista. I'm curious as to what people think are suggested
in
terms of getting a computer that will work with vista since its been out a
good month or so now and people have a nice idea how it works with
systems.

Specifically, how much video memory do I really need. I know Home Premium
requires 128 MB, but should i get more than that? I don't do gaming on my
PC
(I have consoles for that). But is there any good reason otherwise to get
anything besides the integrated video or a 128 MB card?

That was my bigger question I think, but I'm also curious if people know
when to expect the first service pack. (As in, should I wait for it to buy
a
new computer).

Thanks for your patience and answers!
Click to expand...

SP1 for Vista is expected when the Server version ships. Last I heard it
was scheduled for the 4th quarter of this year.
 
Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about finally getting a new desktop (I have a 6 year old
Gateway that i've gotten as far as I can with upgrades). Obviously, any new
desktop will have Vista. I'm curious as to what people think are suggested in
terms of getting a computer that will work with vista since its been out a
good month or so now and people have a nice idea how it works with systems.

Specifically, how much video memory do I really need. I know Home Premium
requires 128 MB, but should i get more than that? I don't do gaming on my PC
(I have consoles for that). But is there any good reason otherwise to get
anything besides the integrated video or a 128 MB card?

That was my bigger question I think, but I'm also curious if people know
when to expect the first service pack. (As in, should I wait for it to buy a
new computer).

Thanks for your patience and answers!
Click to expand...

If you're going to buy another name box like Gateway or Dell, as
opposed to building your own or having one custom one built by some
local outfit I would suggest 1 GB of memory (RAM) and if you want to
take advantage of Aero probably a upgrade to a better graphic card
that supports it. Today, a graphic card with 250 even 500 MB of its
own memory is fairly common. If you buy a box it should already (keep
your fingers crossed) have Vista capable drivers installed/tested for
all the included hardware, so there shouldn't be any reason to wait.
First SP, I'd say by Labor Day, if then.
 
I would enter a vote for waiting to get Vista.
If youre not gaming that helps since a lot of games wont run on vista and a
lot of the online games such as MMOs are having real issues working with
VIsta. There just are too many little bugs for me to want it on my home
system. I deal with it every day in my MIS dept for an upcoming roll-out so
I have to see what works and what doesnt. There are just too many little
bugs that havent been fixed yet.

Dont get me wrong. I understand that some things in it are just different
and not "bugs" such as the whole issue with UAC causing so many prompts etc..
but there are a lot of actual flaws such as media player 11 crashing when
trying to play .wmv files. Or the random times that explorer just decides to
shut down. The fact that XP updates keep trying to install on my system
whenever I start up.

Keep in mind that unlike previous upgrades, Vista handles files differently
and some programs simply wont work. Many companies dont support Vista yet.
Real player wont install because they havent made a Vista version yet. I
only mention that since you are looking at a home system. In fact there seem
to be a LOT of issues with DVD playing and media player according to the
media player newsgroup.

Microsoft software such as Livemeeting and Groove do not actively support
Vista. That is direct from their own support departments. In fact we have
been unable to get certain LiveMeeting features to work on our Vista boxes
due to driver problems with the virtual printer microsoft needs to use.
These are issues where MICROSOFT is not up to speed on compatibility with
their own product. There is also little accurate documentation on the market
yet. Most of the Vista books you will find are based on the Beta editions
and the ones that arent are in most cases inacurate regarding
troubleshooting.

It will be a very nice system when it is fixed up and I wouldnt want to buy
it seperately from a new computer so I would recommend holding off a least
till summer on getting a new machine.

Just as a side note, I think Office 07 is a very nice improvement over older
versions once you get used to the interface changes and it seems very stable.
 
Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about finally getting a new desktop (I have a 6 year old
Gateway that i've gotten as far as I can with upgrades). Obviously, any new
desktop will have Vista. I'm curious as to what people think are suggested in
terms of getting a computer that will work with vista....
Click to expand...

Oh, I'd say any new PC with Vista installed will work with Vista...

Or am I missing something here?
--
Scott http://angrykeyboarder.com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
NOTICE: In-Newsgroup (and therefore off-topic) comments on my sig will
be cheerfully ignored, so don't waste our time.
 
Scott said:
Oh, I'd say any new PC with Vista installed will work with Vista...

Or am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

It may work but the camera, printer, scanner and software might not.
Wait on Vista or, better yet, wait until MS sees the writing on the wall
and removes the ineffective "anti piracy" crap.

Alias
 
Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about finally getting a new desktop (I have a 6 year old
Gateway that i've gotten as far as I can with upgrades). Obviously, any new
desktop will have Vista. I'm curious as to what people think are suggested in
terms of getting a computer that will work with vista since its been out a
good month or so now and people have a nice idea how it works with systems.

Specifically, how much video memory do I really need. I know Home Premium
requires 128 MB, but should i get more than that? I don't do gaming on my PC
(I have consoles for that). But is there any good reason otherwise to get
anything besides the integrated video or a 128 MB card?

That was my bigger question I think, but I'm also curious if people know
when to expect the first service pack. (As in, should I wait for it to buy a
new computer).

Thanks for your patience and answers!
Click to expand...

I'd recommend you either look for one of the remaining systems available
with xp (or something else) or else plan to wait at least for vista SP1.
Too many problems even on well configured systems.
 
Sometime a new PC with Vista installed will work with Vista. There are
enough exceptions to the rule to make some interesting reading here on
the newsgroups. Vista may or may not work with all of your peripherals.
Vista may suddenly crash, so it is important to get the OS DVD with your
system in case you have to repair it. Vista may work perfectly for a
couple of weeks and then crash, requiring a reinstall. You might be
better off with XP for carefree computing. If you get XP, be sure to
secure it with an antivirus and antispyware program. Or you can burn a
live cd with a linux os and try it before installing it. You can install
linux and run windows xp in a virtual machine. You have many choices open
to you. Dont let anyone limit you to just ONE CHOICE.


Oh, I'd say any new PC with Vista installed will work with Vista...
 
hi all! my experience:

i had a 7+ yr old dell desktop win 98se, & went to a new dell vista home
premium. i had out grown my 98se machine too. never done a reformat.

i had built dell machines towards end of jan '07. all with xp home or media
edition. when i went to fine tune the machines i built around jan 30-31, xp
was no longer available. i had to build a new machine with vista.

had sonic dla driver error right after performing the very first windows
update, which dell provided a fix for later.

as per the dell site, had to update video driver. later, dell sent an email
regarding same. updated ok.

machine has dual core amd 3800's, 1 gig ram, 256mb nvidia card, 250 gig hard
drive, floppy & dvd-rw disk drive. using old monitor, speakers & hp printer
(from 1999).

i like vista. very different than win 98se. i'm also getting used to IE7, &
windows mail. (same as oe).

i don't do games, other than what's on machine. using word 2002. works 8.5
came with machine. uninstalled a trial version of office 2006. (which i
didn't ask for). windows media, which i've yet to try, & others. was looking
forward to pinball!! oh well! i put machine to sleep, as per original
setting. no real problems so far, knock wood! just my experience.

i've received much help from these news groups & pa & others over the years.

thank you, len kiesling
 
Hi again,

Thanks for all the responses! I didn't expect that at all. My only major
reason to get a new computer is that my current computer is rather slow. I
would just upgrade the RAM and be happy, but the type of RAM used (PC800
RDRAM) isn't even used anymore that I've seen, so the highest I'd probably
get to is about a 1 GB of RAM, otherwise it would be cost prohibitive, plus
the cost of Vista (and the total hassle of the upgrade). I could spend about
the same or maybe a bit more and just get a new computer. I think its about
time anyway - my current computer came with windows ME!

And one more question (only slightly off topic) -- I bought my Gateway about
6 years ago. Well, I realized Gateway (and Dell too I think) made their
systems so that you HAD to go through them, so and I had to get my RAM
upgrades through Gateway. Are the systems still that proprietary (if that's
the word)?

Thanks again!
 
Hi

I have owned and worked on quiet a few Dell / Gateway systems over the last
few years and never encountered a problem with using third party products to
upgrade any components. All of the Dell components can be upgraded with
drivers from the component manufacturers website. The only exceptions are
the Dell / Gateway peripherals like Printers, etc. Most major RAM
manufacturers provide memory specifically for any Dell or Gateway system, by
model number and usually at a much lower price.
 
Back
Top