We looked for laptops that had XP loaded, but Fry's Electronics, Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples & CostCo only had Vista machines available. And I only had 1 day w/ the FTer with me for input/advice and wanted to get it then so that he could help w/ install, etc, so went w/ the HP/Vista.

I'm a pretty basic user - word, excel, occasional powerpoint, email, and when I get a digital camera, pictures. So I don't think there's any major software issues I'll deal w/ in terms of not running certain programs.

I'm not married to Norton btw, just want to have anti-virus software, so if you're all recommending AVG that's fine with me.

I'm going to call ioGear & see if they have an updated driver for the adapter. If they do, will get that & use the adapter I bought yest. If not, then it's back to Fry's to look for an in-expensive 'Vista-compatible' printer. I don't want to get one that is really XP-compatible & requires some kind of download to make it Vista compatible.

I currently have a Sharp AL-1551 which is a combination copier/printer. It was pretty expensive when I bought it, but it's been a while now. In looking at Sharp's website, it says for this model 2000 was the last software supported.

I was hoping to avoid buying a new printer simply because 2 clients told me last Friday ("Black Friday") that they were going to project from retainer basis, so an instant loss of $26K of income from them & counting pennies short-term. Their development teams are behind schedule, so their products aren't shipping, income not coming in as needed & so they needed to make cut-backs - ie, me.

I don't hate Vista btw - don't enough to know one way or the other. I just want things to work. And of course going from Windows 98 to Vista is a BIG leap, especially for a non-techie.

I know they had a tour of Vista when you first start, but I think the FTer who was doing the install for me of Office, etc, deleted it & other stuff, so I didn't take the tour. I'd have to ask him; maybe it's still on there & I could take the tour. Otherwise, I might look for the Livingston book.

One last question - does anyone know if you can still get stand-alone AOL? I have it on my old computer & there are some things on it I use a lot. I don't need a lecture re: why I'm on AOL, please. I've been on it for 12 years & there are several hundred journalists, biz colleagues, friends & family who are just used to it/don't have to remember a different email like you get w/ cable companies. And again, my needs are pretty basic so it's worked for me. I know I can access AOL from the web as I do it all the time when traveling, but there are some items on the stand-alone version loaded on my old computer that I like. I did see a AOL icon on the laptop (along w/ eBay, MSN, etc) when we powered up, but the FTer deleted all of them. I can call AOL (and get India), but thought I'd ask the question here first figuring one of you would know.

BTW - I appreciate all of your input! Thank you. Cheers.