Microsoft Windows Vista Review

Hindsight is 20/20.  I bought my son a new PC with Windows VISTA shortly after Microsoft introduced it.  The H.P. came with 1024MB of memory.  Not knowing any better, I thought this would be enough.  After all, my original Gateway with Windows XP only had 256 MB of memory that I upgraded to 512.  This (1024MB) doubled the amount found in my Gateway.

The first thing we noticed is that NOTHING was compatible anymore.  My "WORD 2002" wouldn't work in this PC.  None of my son's old games would work either.  That was just the beginning.  It took forever to load up everything.  After downloading a "Windows Update" or a Norton anti-virus update that said, "Restart Your Computer" the monitor came up BLANK!  I swapped monitors with the one from my PC...same problem.  So, it wasn't the monitor.

I took it back to Office Max and swapped it for another.  The second one lasted slightly longer before producing the same problem.  Unfortunately, it was out of the 2 week exchange/refund policy.  It got shipped off to H.P.  According to H.P., they replaced just about everything.  Same problem though.  Finally...and I do mean FINALLY, I got in touch with someone at H.P. that spoke real English.  He emailed me a link to print a Fed-Ex label & ship it back to them one more time. (H.P. covered the shipping both ways.) When it came back, supposedly repaired, it was still the same problem.  I could shut it down, then unplug the power source from the rear, re-install the plug then and only then after 20 minutes or more would the monitor work.  WEIRD!  Finally, after shipping it back to them again, H.P. issued me a refund check for the full price.  Keep reading...

They sell these things cheap at various stores, but don't give you all the info needed.  I found out from a knowledgeable sales person at Office Depot the problem was low memory.  Both Microsoft & H.P. recommend at least 2048MB of memory.  Twice the amount the PC was sold with.  Why do they even put it on the market with low memory.

I would imagine Microsoft is working out the bugs.  However, if you decide to buy a PC with VISTA - load it up with memory.  Get as much as you can.  I'll stick with Windows XP for as long as I can.