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 :-)