Vista-Enabled PCs You Can Buy Today
Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:16PM EST
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Vista's out today. Per the advice on Yahoo! Tech and other places, you've been waiting until now to get a new PC, since upgrading a Windows XP PC to Vista can be tricky. But what's actually out there today, at launch?
I went to the Vista launch here in New York City yesterday and had a chance to speak with some of the Microsoft equipment testers about the new crop of Vista-enabled computers, all of which should be out today. Below is a short list, some of which are brand new and some of which are simply the Vista-enabled versions of popular existing models. I've also added some of my favorites from CES.
Sony Vaio TP1: Back at CES, I wrote about this birthday-cake/hat-box of a media center PC, which is optimized for Vista's built-in Windows Media Center capabilities. It's got built-in twin ATSC tuners, HDMI, Wi-Fi, and a sleek and simple wireless white keyboard and mouse.
Toshiba R400: This was also one of my CES favorites, a sleek, white-and-black tablet notebook with built-in Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology and an auxiliary Sideshow screen that gives you email and calendar alerts, even when the computer is off!
Dell XPS M1210: Small (12-inch LCD) and powerful, the Dell XPS M1210 has surprisingly long battery life and can be upgraded to four gigabytes of RAM, which is unusual for a laptop. You get Vista Home Premium in the base price, but you can upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate for $170.
Sony Vaio C Series: If customizable colors and patterns are your thing, the Vaio C series is right now the most fashion-forward of the Vista notebooks. These lightweight models come in colors such as Blue, Green, and Pink and have bright, clear 13-inch widescreens, which are perfect for taking advantage of Vista's built-in home media center capabilities. Gina wrote about the XP versions of the C series, which came out last year.
HP DV9000: More desktop replacement than something you'd want to carry around, the Windows XP version of the HP DV9000 came out last year. The Vista-enabled version sports all the same multimedia-rich features, including the built-in webcam, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics card, QuickPlay (which lets you watch DVDs without booting up the computer), and an optional HD-DVD drive with HDMI output. The Vista version comes with Windows Home Premium. If you want more portability, you can also get the smaller DV6000 and DV2000.
Gateway DX430: You don't have to pay a premium to get a new Vista computer. This Gateway desktop offers pretty much all of Vista's great features for around $1,000 (though you'll have to spring for an optional TV tuner). It's not much to look at, but the DX430 comes with a rewriteable DVD-and-more drive, a 19-or-22-inch HD-capable LCD monitor, speakers, and a keyboard (and lots more).
Niveus Media Server: This is an extremely high-end, videophile offering that will be one of the first Vista products to offer full 1080p playback for HD-DVDs. More set-top box than desktop, this one belongs in your living room. I'm actually going to a demo later this afternoon and will report back.
My only complaint here is that few of none of the above offerings, other than the Toshiba R400, take advantage of Windows Vista Sideshow, which is one of my favorite features of the new operating system. I'm tempted by plenty of the above PCs, but am thinking of holding out for the Asus W5, which should be out any day now.
How about you? Are you ready to take the plunge or are you waiting for more next-gen Vista PCs?
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Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
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2 Posted by jelkins123@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:32PM EDT Report Abuse
I'm responding to both the article and the comment posted by cpreaux70. I recently upgraded my OS from Windows XP to Vista and it was a reasonable transition. Microsoft provides a free piece of software that reviews your hardware/software and gives you a report on what is compatible with Vista and what is not. It then provides suggestions. In my case (on a 3 year old desktop) it was to delete two minor pieces of software that came with the computer and that I never use. From that point on it was automatic and painless (no lost files, no software that doesn't work, etc). Odds are that if your hardware was lacking the power to run Vista, it was easy to upgrade it rather than buying a new pc. Regarding cpreaux70's comment, I guess he/she has never heard of Apple's OS changes and the new one on the horizon, "leopard". They pretty much could be described the same way he was describing Vista. Apple is famous for doing things like that (ie, when the iPod 1st came on the market you could not replace the battery when it died). As for the blue screen of death, I haven't heard about that since XP came out. It's unlikely Vista will cause the end of Microsoft, afterall they have 96% of the market and Apple has 4%. That marketshare split has been that way since the 80's, shortly after they both came into existence Every year somebody writes a comment to a Microsoft product article predicting the end of Microsoft due to a bad new product and the blue screen of death. My plea to you is simple. Please write comments that have not been recycled for almost 25 years and are no longer truthful. To achieve 96% marketshare and hold on to it for decades while fighting off competitors like Apple, Unix and Linux they must be doing something right. Nobody is putting a gun to the head of all these home and business consumers purchasing their product. They are buying what they perceive as the best product and best choice for their needs (large & small). Jeff Elkins
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3 Posted by waynejonbrady on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:41PM EDT Report Abuse
Wow, jeff 1, cpreaux70, 0. Final score 1-0 Jeff. At least jeff has some fact backing up his statement cpreaux'x post was completely irrational and backed with nothing influetial. You rock my world jeff.
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4 Posted by jrcallison@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse
JUST BUY A MAC. THE SOFTWARE (X) IS BETTER ANYWAY YOU LOOK AT IT.
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5 Posted by mlpmlp20 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:23PM EDT Report Abuse
AND YES.... cpreaux70 Apple software..can get a virus and spyware/ adware etc...just like microsoft......you should really do some research before you comment...... THAT IS YOUR LESSON FOR THE DAY
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1 Posted by cpreaux70 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:30PM EDT Report Abuse
Let me get this straight. Microsoft finds out that their entire way of programming is a failed system so they step back and after years of trying, they come out w/ Vista. The catch? You have to buy a new computer to run the thing because more than likely your current computer doesn't have the capacity to run Vista. Thanks, but no thanks Microsoft. If I have to buy a new computer, I'll buy an Apple. At least I know it won't crash, doesn't have spyware problems, won't have virus corrupting my system... oh yeah, and no blue screen of death. So long Microsoft. It seems your run is coming to an end.