Posted on 02/03/2007 5:47:08 PM PST by HOTTIEBOY
I just purchased a new laptop for the 17 yearold as she enters her senior year in highschool. Its a very cool Compaq model. The box that it came in has a big sticker on the side that says "Do Not Sell Until Janruary 30th 2007".
Vista.
Its running the new Vista system. So far it runs good. No problems have arised.
My question is with the wireless router that I bought and connected to my desktop. So far the router works great and the internet is working fine. From what I gather, I can also use the router to enable the laptop to use the printer that is hooked to the desktop. Is this true?
I also have an obsticle ~ the printer software is made for Windows XP. How would I go about getting the laptop with Vista to read the sotware for the printer? I have a HP printer. Should I contact them to see if they maybe have updates for their printers to inable them to run with Vista? I am going to check the HP website now to see if any updates are available. I would think that they would be or else every printer on the shelves now are useless if running Vista.
Forgive my puter ignorance. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
OK, but i would suggest that you sleep in your bed instead of the recliner. ;)
Indeed. Take a trip through the Device Manager and click on Update Driver when you have located your printer. Vista will look through it's database for a better driver match if one exists. If not, try the HP website.
LOL...at least they work!
I didn't have to download and install anything to get my Canon networked with my iMac, just told it what printer was there and voila!
I fact, I could NEVER network anything with my router and printer under XP until the iMac came on line. Now it and the XP and iMac all share nicely.
I have no problem with PCs and can get a laptop that burns a DVD with good everything for like $499.
You can by a PC with everything for $350 today and they are pretty darn good.
The prices for PCs are low and they are very worth while IMO.
No argument there, I still have four machines running XP here at home...but I DO love my iMac.
For free in one minute they can go to HP and download off the net the right software.
Obviously they got the printer before vista was available, so the disk would not be in the printer box.
IB4T "Buy a Macintosh."
I've talked a lot of people into getting for their college kids $300 PC packages and then just having them spend $30 to upgrade their ram to 1.5 Gigs.
All the stuff out there is made pretty well right now, so it is all good stuff these days from what I see.
I would never tell anyone to go buy anything from some maker that has a small shop and builds them on their own. That would be trouble IMO.
Hi
Rather late comment from me here :-|
I also own the Compaq C502US and am very pleased with it. I did get 512 MB extra RAM locally for $62 and installed it before I even started the computer up for the first time. If at all possible, I would get just this one upgrade. The only other issue for me is that the C502US does use the battery up a little faster (that nice display is part of that!), but I usually keep it plugged in to wherever I take it.
As for Vista Home Basic, which came preinstalled, I actually prefer Basic over the higher versions as it runs better IMHO without all the extra stuff/junque, and it's the best fit for this laptop. In general though, on more graphics capable PCs, if I was *paying* for an upgrade from XP, I'd probably go up one step to Premium. But I think Basic is best here.
So, my recommendations would be:
-Get another 512MB of RAM for $55-65...faster, easier on hard drive and helps media playback
-Get a free anti-virus prog (it already has Windows Defender for adware/spyware), such as AVG
-Windows Updates
-Compaq updates at
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2093&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&tool=softwareCategory&query=C502US&product=3340111#
Other than that, hope the computer is working out great :-)
In regard to malware protection, Windows Defender isn't perfect and I also use Ad-Aware (manual scan), SpyBot (immunize and manual scan), and SpywareBlaster (immunize). None of them run in the background, but they do require manually updating and scanning (unlike Defender) so can be annoying to work with these for general users.
Of course, running Firefox instead of IE (even 7.0) does wonders here.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Hi H.B.,
I am shopping for a laptop, looked at Sam's and BestBuy yesterday. What have you finally done with your new laptop? Are you using Vista? How's it going?
Per consumerreports.org, the Dell Inspiron E1705 is a "quick pick" as of February 2007. I am wondering if a Dell laptop is a good idea?
Any info from you would be appreciated.
Thanks,
jm
P.S. Off topic, what kind of dog is that on your freeper homepage? It's a beauty.
The 17 yearold likes it just fine. It handles all her studies. (though I am sure she does alot more entertainment than studying)
Everytime I use it I am pleased with its performance.
Although it does need more memory. Vista takes up nearly the whole memory. I tried to load a driver for a small telescope camera and there was not enough room. $99 worth of memory should fix that though.
But overall I am pleased with it.
You cannot go wrong with a Dell. I would have bought her a Dell but I opted for the less expensive Compaq. For her needs it is fine.
Oh the dog....he's a lab chow mix.
Half lab, half chow, half good ole boy.
I had a dog that looked a bit like that, he was black lab and some kind of spaniel; he was a little more compact than yours. Very smart, very spunky, very high spirited, sometimes rambunctious. I found his mother dumped out on the side of the road when she was expecting, she whelped five weeks later. She is a small dog, 35 pounds or so, with short black hair, the vet said she’s probably a lab terrier mix. Her son was maybe 55 pounds, IIRC.
Well, she had four short-haired pups, and one long-haired. One was white, three brown, and of course the one black. He was the pick of the litter, so we kept him. Kept the mama dog, too. I always got many compliments on what a beautiful dog he was. I still miss him. Your fella resembled my furry buddy dog enough to give me a jolt. Thanks, jm
+* +* +*
Oh the dog....he’s a lab chow mix.
Half lab, half chow, half good ole boy.
Oh, OK. Thanks.
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