Windows Vista forum: Has anyone purchased a computer with Vista on it?

I really love this machine. Vista does take some getting used to but I have now lived with it for about 1 month and like it more every day. The graphics on this laptop are stunning. I've only run into one compatability issue with the 64Bit O/S. My company uses Etokens for VPN connections and I haven't been able to get this to work on my machine. Everything else works great.

Stick with XP. Too many software and hardware not working with Vista (either Ultimate or Home Premium as I have both).

Recently purchased a Gateway laptop AMD 64 bit dual core. I had no intention of keeping Vista Home Premium on it but decided I'd check it out. Wow is it beautiful! It runs fast and clean with great stability. It only has one gig of RAM but is smooth running DVDs and video. I will upgrade to 2 gigs just for the hell of it. I have had only minor compatibility issues but that is to be expected this early from the release date.
One problem I have worked out is issues with Vista on an XP network. The XP boxes need an update so they can map the Vista network. Also from the Vista box you must type the network path to the shared folder on XP to access it. \\XP_box_name\shared_folder_name. It works fine this way but you cannot click on the XP box icon from within Vista to access the folders shared beneath it! It will not display a list of shared folders from XP. Vista acts like a Linux distro in this regard.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120

I bought mine two months ago, and Vista has not crash once on me. I do uses my computer alot everyday, about 8 hours per day. I believe that once you get through installing all the drivers and softwares, you shouldn't have problems with Vista. Even in its early stages, I think Windows Vista is the best Windows ever if not operating system. Vista even ran faster on a Mac Pro than Apple's own OSX, http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/software/microsoft-vista-faster-on-a-mac-pro-than-apples-own-os-x-232402.php

I bought it and fought it and now VERIZON is the only card I was able to get to work. Best Buy geek squad got it to work after @ days of trial and error. 9901 Brook rd Glen Allen VA (804) 515-1340. Your geek squad can call ours. ANYONE else know of ANYONE elses PCI Express cards to work with vista ultimate 64 bit version???

Well, for once, a question that I can answer!!. I recently upgraded my 3-year old Gateway Laptop from WindowsXP 32 bit to Vista 64 with nightmarish results. It took about 2 months to get most of the bugs out and I'm reluctant to admit that most of the bugs disappeared when I started running in Administrator mode only. I will have to fix this someday but for now, it will have to do.
I am a fulltime RVer so getting to the internet is absolutely imperative. I have spent lots of money and time trying to find cheep ways to accomplish all this but the bottom line for me has been using Verizonwireless at $59.99 a month with a Sierra AirCard 595 also called a Verizon Aircard. I wouldn't use any model that wouldn't let me use an antenna and this PCMCIA card is the only one that I could get at the time that would allow me to have a antenna on the car for travel $39.99 from Wilson Antenna and one on the roof of my RV for camping $89.99. Do not get a USB access if at all possible because they stick out and bend if they get pressure from a laptop and I already had to have a motherboard replaced because the USB ports went out.
Right now I'm on the lowest possible extended network, working all day on the Web because it's raining again (in Washington), and I'm accessing the Web on demand with no roaming, no after 9 pm, or no long distance charges.
This setup will disconect when your out in the boonies and it will go dormant as per your user agreement with Verizon and because Verizon doesn't own full access rights on extended network towers, which shows up in the vzAccessManager in the lower left corner. It takes time to come back from dormant and for the blue lights will start blinking when it's ready to go again, but you do have access from the top of Mt Rainier to Death Valley.
In the big cities, it hits great download speeds with no problems and will not disconnect on a Broadband type access.
I'm sure there other AirCards just as good, but I haven't seen any of them work and most don't have antenna ports.
You will also have to download the special version of vzAccess Manager for Vista 64 but after that I didn't have any problems.
Feel free to ask me more if I can be of any help.

Sorry to be so wordy, I never have known how to explain anything in 100 words or less.

Kitty

Dell with Vista Home Premium. Although the basic drivers were loaded for my printr and my scanner, I can't get the software features that I had with XP and am being told by HP that they will not be available and I will have to buy a new printer and a new scanner. Be assured they will not be HP.
On the Printer, I can print because I have the basic driver. But I do not have a software progam, like before, that has Deskjet Assistant etc to clean cartdiges etc. On the scanner I can only scan by using Windows Photo Gallery. I can not initiate a scan as before as there is no software. Also the buttons on the front can no longer be used without the software.

Dell Inspiron Desktop E521 with AMD dual core processor, 2gig RAM, 320gigs of HARD drive. About three days ago, Myspace began acting up, it's loading really slow. I thought it was a problem with Myspace's servers until I tried my old XP laptop. (Toshiba) Myspace loads fine on the laptop, good and fast, but on the new Dell desktop, it acts like dialup. So I'm not sure what's going on, I'm not sure HOW to ask what's wrong, or WHO to ask. Is it a software or hardware problem? I don't know yet, but I guess until I get it straighted out I'll have to use the laptop the next time I'm on Myspace.

Really happy with my HP. AMD Turion 64, 2 GB of Ram, etc. Upgraded from Home Premium to Ultimate. Really happy. No real problems except with the following programs:

MS OneCare
Download Accelerator
Adobe 8

Guess I'll just have to wait for the updates.

I purchased a notebook Vaio VGN-c290 with Windows Vista Home Premium. It took a while to get used to and to remove some of the bloatware. I was disappointed that Sony chose to partition the drive with a backup of the os and other installed apps. It eats up another 20 gig of space. also, I was disappointed to discover the utility sony included to burn copies of the OS/restore cd did not work. (Sony sent me the DVD's) Also applications such as my wifi seem to hang frequently for no reason.

My main issue is I seem to have a problem with a periodic 'screen blanking' mostly after resuming from hibernation, or when I watch videos with itunes. The screen will flicker for a second and then become normal. I don't think its a hardware issue. I think it may be ram. I only have a gig... (yeah I know).

I called tech support this afternoon, and they did not really seem to know how to support vista. They asked me to discharge the battery and then tried to ask me to go back to an earlier resotre point, but then cancelled that advice. I asked them if they were familiar with the screen flicker problem and if they thought a ram upgrade would solve it. The lady tried to help, but seemed more familiar with XP She wanted to escallate me to tier two...But they'd gone home for the day.

My notebook is only a month old, but I'm a bit wary of issues related to screens, having had a few bad experiences. I do think the flickering is better once I removed the sidebar and most of the areo features but it still happens.

So far, I find vista pretty frustating. Its pretty, but it seems to be a resource hog.

Sent the VGN-C290 back to Sony. They were very accomodating after several failed attempts to cure the problem over the phone. It turned out they simply replaced the Hard Drive but I don't think that was the problem because when I got it back, the screen blanked out again.

So, I called and the tech had me run through some more tests and diagnostic routines including the taking out the baterry routine. Then he had me adjust the screen brightness( FN F5) down a notch. This is what I believe cured the problem. He said at full brightness, there could be some occasional flickering, causing it to blank out. I'm sure there's a better technical description. It's been 2 days and no screen blanks so far. The only issue I have is why can't the machine be set to full brightness?

I must say that Sony was very helpful and cooperative during this ordeal.

Give this solution a try and see what happens.

yup, my screen does exactly the same thing as Hank in Alaska's screen. Same model, also started happening after about a month and purchased the same model about the same time. What did you end up doing about it? I don't have the problem in Safe Mode which makes me think Vista is the problem. Alex (oddly, also in Alaska)

What are the specs of your new computer? Such as memory, cpu, video card etc. and what version of Vista is installed on your computer?

I Bought a Gateway with Vista Premium 1gb of memory that shared its memory with the video, and it was a nightmare. It crashed twice right out the box and then I had to reinstall everything with the factory disks. I returned it and bought a HP DV9260nr notebook with Vista Ultimate 64, 2gb of memory and a Nvidia 7600 256mb dedictaed (not shared)memory, with a tv tuner hd-dvd, and its great. The 4mb on L2 cache helps in a big way, it has never crashed, so far. It is Windows so I still have the problem with spyware. The other problems I have had is a couple of my hardware devices can not be used with the Windows Vista 64 as yet. The M-audio Trigger Finger (a midi drum pad) and my Native instruments Kore does not have a device drive thats work, other then that all my program I have instaled on my Windows XP work fine, including Adobe CS2 and CS3 and Macromedia 8. highlt recommend having a laptop with a dedicated video card and at least 1.5 gb of memory 1 gb is really not enough.

Do you have Norton Symantec Internet security installed? Many apps on my computer did not work until I removed it and installed a normal anti-virus application. It even prevented me from registering my computer!



F

I too have a Mac G5 2.5ghz Dual ppc with 4gb of memory installed, and I too love my Mac, the only reason I still use Windows is because of the software I use, that will not run on mac. Such as Sonar, Fl Studio< Camtasia studio, yes I know about Apple Logic, which I have also but I like to use various music production software. Mac is the way to if you want less spyware. dependability, no viruses, and great for video, audio and business software, I do have the Microsoft office 2004 for Mac, so there really isn't much I can't do on my Mac that I can do on my pc except for the software issue I mentioned.