UPgrade to XP Home or Vista?

Hi

I am going to buy a new system. Is there a reason to buy a 64 bit system or
should i just buy a upper end AMD or P4? Also am i better off to get the
Beta Vista, or stay with XP Home? My uses are basic, cam corder, digital
camera with movie format. scanner, printer. I am going to have a dvd dual
layer rw and cd rw,. Is a P4 3.0 adequate, and what about the AMD, 3200?
If you can
Thanks
--
I AM A CHEESEHEAD AND A BADGER!

shortstop643 wrote:

Hi

I am going to buy a new system. Is there a reason to buy a 64 bit system or
should i just buy a upper end AMD or P4? Also am i better off to get the
Beta Vista, or stay with XP Home? My uses are basic, cam corder, digital
camera with movie format. scanner, printer. I am going to have a dvd dual
layer rw and cd rw,. Is a P4 3.0 adequate, and what about the AMD, 3200?
If you can
Thanks


At this point Windows Vista is in the early Beta stages, the part
where Beta really means "too full of bugs to be released".

I would not advise anyone to use a beta version of an operating system
as their primary, or only, operating system on a computer. For one
thing, drivers are not yet available for a number of peripherals.

Look at 64 bit systems, where AMD is the CPU of choice, and get one if
your budget will stretch that far. And look into getting the 64 bit
version of Windows XP if you want, although there are issues with that
as well, especially with regard to availability of device drivers.


As for your P4 question, a 3 ghz machine with 512 mb or even better 1
gb of RAM will perform very will with Windows XP. Although the
detailed specs for hardware for Windows Vista are yet to be released,
it should be fully adequate for that as well.

With Windows XP having lots of RAM is more important than raw CPU
processing speed, and I suspect that Vista may share that
characteristic as well, although it is far too early yet to able to
tell.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

shortstop643 wrote:

Hi

I am going to buy a new system. Is there a reason to buy a 64 bit system or
should i just buy a upper end AMD or P4? Also am i better off to get the
Beta Vista, or stay with XP Home? My uses are basic, cam corder, digital
camera with movie format. scanner, printer. I am going to have a dvd dual
layer rw and cd rw,. Is a P4 3.0 adequate, and what about the AMD, 3200?
If you can

Vista is a beta product, it would be a *really bad* idea to use that
for your primary computer. It's beta because it isn't ready for prime
time yet.

IMHO, forget about 64-bit machines right now unless you *really* need
speed and capacity for some task. There aren't a lot of 64-bit
applications available at the moment (AFAIK), and a 64-bit machine
will cost you a *lot* more than 32-bit hardware.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)

Hi

so with these specs, am i over doing it?
----------------------
Quantity Description Each Total Price
1 Antec Mid Tower SLK3700BQE Quiet 350W Case (Black) $1,240.00 $1,240.00
Asus A8V-E SE Socket 939/VIA K8T890/PCI-Express Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+* (2.0GHz) 939pin Retail
Seagate ST3160827AS 160GB Serial ATA 7200rpm 8MB Hard Drive
1GB DDR400 PC3200 RAM (2x512MB)
Floppy Drive - Black
Lite-On SOHW-1693S 16X DVD+/-RW Double Layer Drive
Asus Extreme AX550GE Gamer 256MB PCI-Express Video Card
v.92 PCI Intel Chip Hardware Modem
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 PCI Internal Sound Card
Windows XP Home SP2 #N09-01153
Super Talent Multimedia & Internet Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse USB &
PS/2 Black
AOpen MS805-B Black 3-Piece Speaker System

1 Acer AL1715s-8 17" LCD Display 500:1, DVI/VGA 8MS - Silver - ET.L2102.208
290.00 $290.00
This monitor has a DVI connection, plus built in speakers (if you would
want to forego
buying separate speakers).

thanks

--
I AM A CHEESEHEAD AND A BADGER!


"Tim Slattery" wrote:

shortstop643 wrote:

Hi

I am going to buy a new system. Is there a reason to buy a 64 bit system or
should i just buy a upper end AMD or P4? Also am i better off to get the
Beta Vista, or stay with XP Home? My uses are basic, cam corder, digital
camera with movie format. scanner, printer. I am going to have a dvd dual
layer rw and cd rw,. Is a P4 3.0 adequate, and what about the AMD, 3200?
If you can

Vista is a beta product, it would be a *really bad* idea to use that
for your primary computer. It's beta because it isn't ready for prime
time yet.

IMHO, forget about 64-bit machines right now unless you *really* need
speed and capacity for some task. There aren't a lot of 64-bit
applications available at the moment (AFAIK), and a 64-bit machine
will cost you a *lot* more than 32-bit hardware.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)

I'd get *at_least* 2 gigs RAM if you're planning on running Vista any time
soon..

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User

"shortstop643" wrote in message
...
Hi

so with these specs, am i over doing it?
----------------------
Quantity Description Each Total Price
1 Antec Mid Tower SLK3700BQE Quiet 350W Case (Black) $1,240.00 $1,240.00
Asus A8V-E SE Socket 939/VIA K8T890/PCI-Express Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+* (2.0GHz) 939pin Retail
Seagate ST3160827AS 160GB Serial ATA 7200rpm 8MB Hard Drive
1GB DDR400 PC3200 RAM (2x512MB)
Floppy Drive - Black
Lite-On SOHW-1693S 16X DVD+/-RW Double Layer Drive
Asus Extreme AX550GE Gamer 256MB PCI-Express Video Card
v.92 PCI Intel Chip Hardware Modem
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 PCI Internal Sound Card
Windows XP Home SP2 #N09-01153
Super Talent Multimedia & Internet Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse USB &
PS/2 Black
AOpen MS805-B Black 3-Piece Speaker System

1 Acer AL1715s-8 17" LCD Display 500:1, DVI/VGA 8MS - Silver - ET.L2102.208
290.00 $290.00
This monitor has a DVI connection, plus built in speakers (if you would
want to forego
buying separate speakers).

thanks

--
I AM A CHEESEHEAD AND A BADGER!


"Tim Slattery" wrote:

shortstop643 wrote:

Hi

I am going to buy a new system. Is there a reason to buy a 64 bit system or
should i just buy a upper end AMD or P4? Also am i better off to get the
Beta Vista, or stay with XP Home? My uses are basic, cam corder, digital
camera with movie format. scanner, printer. I am going to have a dvd dual
layer rw and cd rw,. Is a P4 3.0 adequate, and what about the AMD, 3200?
If you can

Vista is a beta product, it would be a *really bad* idea to use that
for your primary computer. It's beta because it isn't ready for prime
time yet.

IMHO, forget about 64-bit machines right now unless you *really* need
speed and capacity for some task. There aren't a lot of 64-bit
applications available at the moment (AFAIK), and a 64-bit machine
will cost you a *lot* more than 32-bit hardware.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(DTS)