Vista Price Tumble

**MorseLady** · October 25th, 2008, 06:47 PM

I see RRP for UK has dropped to £79.99 for Vista Home Premium Upgrade retail version and Amazon is offering it for £61.98. Do you think this is as good as it is going to get and I should buy now or will the price drop again?

**xpuser357** · October 25th, 2008, 07:52 PM

I would wait it out somemore it will drop

**slgrieb** · October 25th, 2008, 11:56 PM

Personally, I don't think "upgrading" your version of Windows is usually a good idea. The hardware requirements from one version to the next are generally pretty substantial, and changing from XP to Vista isn't going to give you much more in the way of functionality, but it will definitely cause some headaches when you make the transition.

Please don't misunderstand; I love Vista, but I did a clean installation on a machine that replaced my old office computer and was built for Vista. If you have a computer running XP and you're happy with it, that's great. I wouldn't change unless you're building a new machine.

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 04:19 AM

Morselady, this seems to be an Amazon thing and if you look at the version on Amazon for pre sp1, you will find it at £113!

I think they may have made a mistake - that's even cheap for the OEM version!

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 05:15 AM

I have checked and the RRP for the upgrade version of Home Premium SP1 retail is £79.99 and both PC World and Amazon state this and add further discounts.

Anyway, reading an old thread about activation problems with user installs has put me off Vista so I will carry on with XP Pro SP3 which I am very happy with.

I never bought the new machine having decided what I have here is adequate but in fact I need a laptop so I guess I will get Vista on a machine properly configured for it and OEM activated.

Thanks for the replies.

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by MorseLady

I have checked and the RRP for the upgrade version of Home Premium SP1 retail is £79.99 and both PC World and Amazon state this and add further discounts.

Anyway, reading an old thread about activation problems with user installs has put me off Vista so I will carry on with XP Pro SP3 which I am very happy with.

I never bought the new machine having decided what I have here is adequate but in fact I need a laptop so I guess I will get Vista on a machine properly configured for it and OEM activated.

Thanks for the replies.

Fair enough... run the laptop spec by us first... especially if you want Aero to work!

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 05:55 AM

Thanks Noo. Is there an issue with Aero and Laptops?

Here are the links to the cheapies I mentioned

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-Prem...5018405&sr=1-1

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...&category_oid=

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 05:59 AM

There are issues with laptops being under powered on the graphics side of things...that has always been the case and Aero makes it worse.

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 06:07 AM

Thank you Noo, I was not aware of that although I would not buy a machine with anything less than 256mb dedicated Nvidia graphics card and preferably 512mb. Not keen on integrated graphics.

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 06:17 AM

On laptops discrete graphics cards push the price up somewhat. There is a mid point - integrated graphics with discrete memory that can also allocate system memory to graphics as well.

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 06:19 AM

Laptops are something new to me so many thanks Noo

and maybe I should read up on them before buying one.

Have since located some books at the local library. Our Library is open between 1pm and 5pm Sundays so popping down there after lunch before someone else borrows them.

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 06:35 AM

Best thing to do is work out what is important to you

My list would be
Weight
Battery Life
Bluetooth
Firewire
USB 2.0 sockets (at least 3)
Screen size (has a lot to do with weight, as does battery)

There are 3 main types of laptops -
ultra mobile - small screen, light weight
Standard - 14-15 screen - weight varies
Desktop replacement - 15"screen and above - heavy! Not designed to be carted about really.

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 06:41 AM

Weight is not an issue as it will be used in the car and as a desktop to save room as I expect to move to a smaller bungalow soon and will not be able to have two towers and two screens as I do now in separate rooms so I guess I can go for it! Mostly though I have always wanted a laptop and have decided not to wait any longer. They are so versatile and I already have a wireless setup here.

**NooNoo** · October 26th, 2008, 06:47 AM

Using a laptop in the car is not as easy as it sounds... but the biggest problem is not being able to see the screen because the sun washes it out. When I use my laptop in the car, to ensure battery life, the screen has to be dimmed a bit... which means you will find me with a towel over my head and laptop so I can see the darn thing!

**MorseLady** · October 26th, 2008, 07:02 AM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

Using a laptop in the car is not as easy as it sounds... but the biggest problem is not being able to see the screen because the sun washes it out. When I use my laptop in the car, to ensure battery life, the screen has to be dimmed a bit... which means you will find me with a towel over my head and laptop so I can see the darn thing!

Sounds like you have fun Noo

curtains round my Ford Focus windows so I can use Windows maybe?