GET the most adaptable, usable system for your needs...Your recovery is going to be long...and probably painful...I for one am truly grateful we could pool resources in a way that YOU can get not only what you want, but what you need...and then some!

One thing you HAVE been silent about tho, is HOW ARE YOU DOING? Good, bad, indifferent? We care, you can tell and we worry and you are obtuse about how you are doing..is it set-backs? just plain PAIN? or new wrinkles? I sure hope you've not fallen and are afraid to tell anyone! Well, you know!

More soft hugs and insulating fuzzies to cushion any 'incidents'...I hope you are well past the 'bedpan' stage! [Went thru that this winter w/my knee-very humbling!]

- j

I deleted my post about a separate topic.

Melody

CHOICES?

Amended as requested! I'd had my 'puter off due to a thunderstorm going by! - j

Sort hugs and fuzzies - and DON'T FALL any more - please?

Dahlek and Melody,
This subject would be a good thread in itself and I've got a lot to contribute to it, but I'd really like all the info we can get on the subject of the laptop here in one spot in case I try to link up someone to it to understand what we are all talking about. I really hate to put Mel's note about being in the hospital and using the bedpan in front of the computer store salesman. It all prints out on one page when I print. I'll post a separate post about my condition.

Billye

Billye:

I removed the post.

All the best,

Mel

Billye,

I just now read through this thread and and have taken a look at the Toshiba you want to buy. I have owned quite a few Toshiba notebooks - for many years I used one all day at my office. I have had good results from them with fewer than expected problems or repairs. In fact, I still have one of those at home that my wife prefers to use over a newer one. The reason: the keyboard is roomier than on most notebooks. The Satellites typically offer this kind of trade-off.

This particular Satellite continues in that vein - it has the closer to full sized keyboard in exchange for a slower processor. In fact, that would be almost my only concern about this unit. Frankly, it is on a dead-end Intel platform that is being completely phased out. However, that may not really matter at all. If you are going to be doing web surfing, emailing, and word processing, then it should be fine. I would suggest trying to bump up the RAM to 2 GB. On a machine like this, it will make a difference.

The above paragraph leads me into asking what else do you plan to do with this machine? Is there any of your own software that you are planning to load onto it? How about any hardware items, such as printer, scanner, etc.?

You can get a machine with a more up to date processor for about the same price, but of course it will have its own trade-offs. The only other thing that I see missing is Bluetooth. I am a bit surprised that it is not included, but for you I am thinking it won't make a big difference. If you were really going to use this as a "portable" unit, then it would be a problem. But it sounds like not the case - please let me know if you are thinking that you might want to lug this around a lot. It certainly will be fine for some lighter-duty stuff, but it is just too heavy for day-to-day transport. And actually, it is lighter than a few others in its particular class.

I know there was a suggestion you look into buying online. I would agree that you should check it out. Usually all computers are sold at a discount online, although this type of machine is probably not as heavily discounted as some. And it sounds like you need/want the other stuff they are throwing in, so you may not do too much better online, but I do hope you check.

kmeb,

Yes - you are right. I did post about trying to buy XP and then putting
Vista on later. The only proper way to do that is to do a fresh install by wiping the partition clean. Then you have to reinstall and reconfigure all of your programs and software. Not fun at all.

It is possible to do a dual-boot setup. Once it is correctly set up, theoretically it is easy to do. A potential drawback is that at some point, such a setup is very likely to get corrupted. It is not really a big deal - I had one that get doing that for a month until I figured out the cause. So, someone needs to be technically comfortable with such a setup because they will have to repair it when it breaks. Fixing is usually quick and easy, but some folks may not want to mess with it. Another drawback is disk maintenance, which now becomes more complicated.

I don't think this kind of setup makes much sense for most folks, with the exception of gamers and some folks who special software/hardware needs. Anyone buying a new machine now needs to know if they are in that category, but if they are not, then dual-booting XP and Vista, is a needless complexity that is anti-productivity. Now dual-booting Windows and Linux -- whole other story.

Rfinnery, here we go again, mate a dual OS setup done by someone that knows what they are doing can come in very handy, eg- some pc users are crippled if their one and only operating system goes a muck, it may only need a driver to get going again but seeing they have not got another OS they can't use the net to get one downloaded, so they are in trouble, on the other hand with a dual setup it enables the user to switch over to their other OS which is normaly running perfectly and they can download a driver or go to Microsoft for help or whatever they have to do to get it running again, it gives the user the opportunity to get themselves out of trouble, without the hassles of going without their computors until a pc tech can fix it for them, of course a hardware problem is a different story.

So mate, i can't see how it is needless complexity that is anti-productivity, if you have not got a pc to use, thats when its in a anti-productivity state.
I have never had any file corruption because of having a duel OS either, i can only see that happening if the user caused it themselves, by moving unscaned files from one partition to the other.
Having a duel boot using either Linux or another Windows OS would create the same amount of maintenance on the disc anyway, which is no big hassle.

My idea of having a dual boot was that if Vista was coming with the deal why not have it installed anyway, its not going to harm any other OS on the same drive, saves a bit money down the road if wanting to upgrade later on, it will probably take quite a while before Microsoft will have the bugs out of Vista, therefore having a proven OS like XP or win2k to fall back on would come in very handy as a backup.

I have been doing some reading about Vista today as i didn't know much about it than it is a memory hog, which i do now agree that another one gig of ram would come in very handy as running Vista needs 1 gig itself, so to run any other programs the extra memory would be good idea.
What i did read today was that XP & Vista will live happily side by side if another small primary partition is setup initially, because Vista like to be setup in a primary partition.
Computors, aren't they fun

all the best
Brian

I didn't read through the posts but my uncle is a computer guy for a job. I am clueless anyways when I got my laptop I called him. He recomended the inspirion 1501 and I know my mom got it with some upgrades and warrenties. I really like it so far though only have had it since the winter.

Brian,

Ask yourself if you think Billye understood everything you were saying. I do not really disagree with what you are saying about dual-boot, at least as it applies to folks with some technical skills and knowledge. As I have said to others here, my recommendations are based on what I think is best for her. And I just don't think that the dual-boot system you are talking about makes sense for her. I could easily be wrong. I do feel sure that from this discussion she will know if she wants to go this way or not.

Frankly, I do not understand why you keep making statements about Vista. You admit that you know very little about it, yet you are quite willing to make recommendations to her about what she should do. Some others here have been guilty of the same thing. Just ask yourself, if this was a medical treatment, would you be so willing to make such a recommendation based on what you know?

Why is it that everyone who dabbles in computers thinks they know what is best for someone else? I have seen so many mis-statements, it is just disheartening. I have tried to steer away from getting into direct arguments as it just deflects away from the real purpose - to help Billye. But I would be glad to debate you about this, but how about in another place?

I will respond to questions from Billye, or make other comments that I think will be helpful for her. I will not enter into debate in this thread.

rafi