About Lauren Bennett Expertise I am a computer science major and my dad is an Electric Engineering, so my life has revolved around computers. For as long as I can remember, I have been buying and selling computers. I tend to travel a lot, so I have always had a laptop. I have bought 5 of them for myself, and bought around 30-40 for friends and family. I have dealt with the good and the bad of various version and brand names. If you are in need of buying a laptop, feel free to contact me and I'm sure I will be able to guide you into purchasing the laptop that will be the best fit for you. I will custom build you computers for you to choose from so you can get an exact idea of what to go and buy when you do it yourself and so that you have an exact price. However, I am in the USA and am only knowledgeable about computers here in the US. I do not know about foreign currency or the quality of computer brand names outside the US.
Experience B.S. in Computer Science. Buying and selling for years. Assisting friends/family.
Question QUESTION: Hi Lauren,
You previously helped me build my son's E 1505, as i have said before, you were very helpful. We wn=ent to his college orientation today. They said they do not support Vista Home, because of security etc...They said i should upgrade to Vista Business, i purchased the upgrade from them for $99.00. (they also claim to be a Dell authorized service center). Is it easy to install, will i have to change anything?? I am very computer illiterate!! Also, what things will he lose not having Vista Premium, i was told there will be some problems playing DVD movies?? Please advise...On a separate subject, you recommended KC Computers a few weeks ago to someone. I purchased a super desk top from him last August. It was the best purchase of a computer i ever made, and Kevin was terrific with recommendations of what i needed and did not need...Just thought i would let you know.
ANSWER: Vista Business? That makes no sense. Vista Business is lacking all of the entertainment features that Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate. I believe that move is solely as a money maker to the college. Plus, the college doesn't need to support it - you have Dell to fix any problems. Vista Home Premium is very secure - far more secure than XP ever was. Vista Ultimate is a combination of Home Premium and Business - it has the added layer of security that Business has (which is something no home user would ever use) and also has the entertainment features. If you upgrade to Vista Business you will lose all the entertainment features, like Media Center which is what you can use to watch tv, look at pictures, watch movies, and more.
My suggestion would be to either upgrade to Vista Ultimate or just stick with Home Premium. There is absolutely no security risks with Home Premium. It offers a lot of layers of security, plus he has anti virus software. I guarantee you that for any purpose you or him will ever be using that laptop.. you will gain ZERO security from upgrading to Business, but you will lose the entertainment features. That is purely a money maker decision by the college. I would suggest ignoring them and returning Business.
You don't need their support. Any software that works on one will work on the other.
Oh and I'm glad you liked Kevin - he's fantastic! :)
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QUESTION: They claim for security (he will not have wireless in his dorm room, but will hook into ethernet), and be able to use wireless in certain areas. They were claiming because there systems are antiquated, many problems will arise from premium......Is it possible????? I hate to see him lose some of the great features of Premium, but i am worried he will ahve probelms connceting to the internet etc...I asked 3 different people in 3 diffeent areras, they all concurred he cannot use premium, but needs business..HELP!!!!
ANSWER: If you are worried I would get Ultimate. You get the ALL of the security features that come with Business, but you also get ALL the entertainment features of Home Premium. It basically takes the two and puts them together. So that would be your only choice.
I still cannot fathom how they would manage to distinguish between the two. The only real thing that Business offers if bit-lock encryption, but no one really uses that unless you are a super high security business. Home Premium has windows defender and a firewall which is all anyone needs.
I would return Business and get Ultimate if they force you to, but I might wait unless the day he moves in. See if you can get on the Internet. If you cannot (which would surprise me) I would just go and get Ultimate and upgrade.
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QUESTION: lAST QUESTION AND COMMENT.......They DO NOT sell ultimate...kind of funny huh!!!!!!! Would you know where else i could get an educational discount upgrade copy of ultimate, seems like either way, it will be very expensive...If i can do that, is it much more expensive to get a 2 license, to upgrade my other computer??? Thanks again for all the help!!
I would do a Google search for academic software or something along that line. You can usually find it other places, too.
The full version is $399, but you only need the upgrade. I think it runs about $260 full price.
Good luck!!!
out of curiosity, what college does he go to? That's the craziest thing I have ever heard.
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QUESTION: This is on the website: the school is UCF (UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA)
Windows Vista Applications Matrix
This is a list of popular applications that we've tested with Microsoft's latest OS: Windows Vista RTM. Please use this only as a guide, you can check vendor websites for the latest information on a particular application.
Disclaimer (12/15/2006): The Computer Services & Telecommunications (CS&T) unit at the University of Central Florida does not currently support or recommend the installation of the Microsoft Vista operating system. Any computing or network problems that result by the use of this product will not be supported.
Software Vista RTM
Acrobat 7 Works properly
Admin Pack (Windows 2003) Works properly
AIM 6.0 Works properly
Ask Addy Works properly
Ask myUCF Works properly
Cisco VPN Client Works properly
Daemon Tools (4.08) Works properly
Dial Up Works properly
Dreamweaver 8 Works properly
FireFox (1.5.0.8 and 2.0) Works properly
FTP Works properly
GroupWise 6.5 Does not work
GroupWise 7.0 Works properly (not certified by Novell) - requires Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 installed
Host Explorer Works properly
Internet Explorer 7 Included with Vista
ISORecorder V3 Works properly
Java V5.0 Update9 Works properly
Linksys Wireless Client Works properly
MOM Console 2005 Works properly
MyGrades Works properly
myUCF Portal Not supported
Nero 7.5.7.0 Demo Does not work
Nero 7.5.9.0 Demo Works properly
Office 2003 Works properly
Office 2007 Works properly
Photoshop CS2 Works properly
PrintKey Works properly
Roxio 7.5 Does not work
Secure Shell Works properly
SPSS 15 **
Symantec Works properly
Symantec Console New version of Symantec (10.2) does not have console. Older Symantec version does not work.
Trillian 3.1 Works properly
UltraEdit Works properly
Veritas Netbackup Does not work
Visual Studios 2005 Will work best with VS 2005 SP1 and "Vista support update" released in Q1 2007
VmWare Client Works properly
Winamp Works properly
Answer Looks like they don't support Vista at all - which isn't surprising. It isn't a big deal. The only software I've found that doesn't work with Vista is my wireless USB adapter, but I just downloaded a driver from the website and it worked great. I don't see anything that specifies that you can use Business but not Home Premium. Personally, I'd just stick with what you have. I have Vista Home Premium on both of my computers and have connected to Miami University Ohio and Ohio State University with absolutely no problem. My vote is to stick with what ya got :)
Plus, you don't need their support, you have full Dell support. I'm 99% sure you'll be fine with Home Premium.
