Vista is very pretty, but in being so, eats processor power and memory - you MUST HAVE a recent CPU and 2Gb memory to run it (and your applications) smoothly. It also has some really stupid bugs.

Networking is a doddle. I'm using Home Premium and as soon as I plugged in the network cable it was away - much easier than XP Professional. (The other computers on my network are all running XP Professional)

Loads of peripherals/drivers won't work - existing scanners are no-go! Even my laser printer would not work until Canon came up with a new driver. Fortunately Epilog is on the ball and if they have not updated the drivers on their website then they will send them by return.

Corel Graphics X3 needs SP2 to run - so presumably earlier versions don't work at all.
I persuaded my CAD program (TurboCad V12) to run, but it is not good and I'm hoping for an update soon before I go mad.
Photo programs seem to love Vista - especially Lightroom, but watch out for wierd problems with colours if the new Windows Colour Management is turned on.

I'm sure the new machine would run XP - and very fast too!

Buyers of the Business version of Vista are ENTITLED, under the Microsoft licence agreement, to "downgrade" to XP Professional. This does rather show how confident MS are about their new OS!

(I'm running home premium without the entitlement)

If you go to www.HP.com and choose the medium/small business tab, you can have it with XP.

Personally, I will never buy another Dell.

Hi Jeannette,

If you check the Dell outlet http://www.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh you will find plenty of high powered xp options there.

At least for a while yet.....

Good luck,

Brian

I'm with Chuck. My Dell's have outperformed any others I have had. When my CD drive went years ago while warranty, the sent someone down to replace it. I followed their ratings for about 5 years, (a while ago), and they rated the best in performance, compliance, and lack of service for all makes.

What problems have you had, and why do you not like them?

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

Ditto.

We now have 5 of them, and will be buying #6 this week.

I used to swear by Gateway, but they decided to send ALL of their tech support overseas. That's not all bad, but I don't hear so well, so I have an extremely hard time understanding 2nd-language English. Then they refused to talk to me about one of my machines (had 3 of them at the time). I never called back again....now we have 5 Dell's, and are very happy with them. When we need support, we get someone in Tennessee (they have their own brand of English there, but I can understand it!).

For our situation, a 3-year lease works very well. We also get their Gold Tech Support for the pc's / laptop that run the engravers. That way, if something breaks with it (usually operator error), we're up and running VERY quickly.

Our personal machines are bought outright, with standard warranty/support.

When Dell stops giving us the level of support we need, we'll go elsewhere. Right now, they have a very happy customer. B-)

I bought a Dell laptop about 18 mos ago. Not having the time to do my research was my own fault, but Dell oversold me a machine to the tune of a few$1000 over what it was worth. Shipped it to the wrong address, back ordered a bunch of stuff and it was a PAIN to get it straightened out. Every time I had to call about anything, I got someone that couldn't speak English and wouldn't transfer me to someone in the states. It would take HOURS to resolve the simplest problem. The laptop has Dell spyware that can't be removed (I have my firewall contain it). One of teh USB ports no longer works, so I have to carry a hub with me at all times. And no I am not going to call Dell about it. I plan on replacing it with another HP, Compaq or Toshiba in the next few months.

I don't like being ripped off, lied to and taken advantage of.

I bought an XP 64bit machine about 18 months ago - put up a fight for about 12 months trying to get drivers to work with various hardware devices, used it as a doow stop for 6 months and just installed XP Pro (invalidating the warranty) and can now sleep at night.

I will let everyone else take on the early pains of Vista and take a back seat! perhaps I will try it when Windows Panorama or Horizon is released as the next version (devil)