The trend these days is toward bigger and better HD television sets. Not to be left behind, the computer stores are now selling large monitors with their powerful new computers.

After seeing these gadgets on the shelf, I and a friend developed an uncontrollable urge to upgrade our hardware. There was no good excuse for it, but to make a long story short, I ended up purchasing another computer with 3 Gigs of memory and all types of refinements including the ability to run HD television right on my computer. It even has a remote control.

There are various doodads included also like a DVD CD writer which can burn its own labels right onto the CD (LightScribe), two large hard drives, wireless keyboard and mouse and several card readers. The computer case has a couple of doors on the front, behind which are numerous, easily accessible connectors for audio and other pluggable devices.

What really rang my chimes was the monitor. It is a 24-inch HD display which you can view in portrait or landscape mode. Just rotating it 90% caused the computer to automatically adjust the graphics. The monitor includes two built-in speakers as well as a couple to USB ports.

It should be noted that several manufacturers are offering very similar computers, although this is the only one that I saw with the rotating display; so far.

The computer that I purchased was made by HP. That company has been getting rave reviews for their quality and service. They are now rated number one in our area, and the attention to details is evident.

Vista and SP1

I am running along with Windows 98SE and an eight-year-old machine, barely hanging on by my fingernails. I want to upgrade, but I would prefer not starting a completely new system with XP. At the same time, I hear horror stories about Vista and all the patches. My objective is to get a totally new system, maximized, from Dell with Vista and SP1 preloaded. Hopefully this will minimize the trauma of the transition. My question, “Mr. Anthony,” is: what is the status of SP1 for Vista? I can’t seem to get a clear answer from my usual “Experts.” What has been your experience? Do you have any feel for timeframes? Pete M.

Dear Pete: In the last few months, Microsoft has greatly cleaned up their act. Service Pack 1 (SP1) is a huge collection of patches which they have been applying to their Vista system for the last year. This is all to the good, as they solve a problem as soon as it appears.

In the past they tried to pooh-pooh problems and infrequently issued updates. Then they went to monthly, and now weekly updates (Tuesdays). They still do that but also promptly issue bug fixes, sometimes within a few hours after a problem raises its ugly head. Most of us were not even aware that there was a problem as long as we are set up for the recommended automatic updates.

Many of the difficulties are created by the thousands of software programs (including international ones), which have to interact with the operating system. In my opinion, Vista is now the best Windows system to date.

Most of the horror stories that we hear are really OEs (Operator Errors), as a result of not following common sense advice. The single most common source of problems is caused by installing software while other programs are open and active.

As a vendor, Dell had gone downhill in the previous two years when they cut quality of service to save money and humor Wall Street with higher earnings. It is now being revived after their founder, Michael Dell, took over again as chairman.

Computers have gotten so complex and widespread that knowledgeable support personnel are hard to find, even in India. With the advent of the Internet, frequently the technicians ask for permission to take control of your computer and perform fixes while you just sit in front of your screen and watch the cursor move around as the miracle happens.

Memory stick storage

I work for a company where we share computers. My main one is at home. I carry my data on a USB memory stick (Sandisk Cruzer). It was brought to my attention that one of my Word documents was found on a guest computer. I checked my Cruzer and it is also there. Do you have any suggestions as to why my data moved to another computer? I always follow the corporate procedure to reboot the computer after I am finished with it. Can you help with this puzzler? Thanks. Gordon J.

Dear Gordon: From your description, it appears that the program that you use is running (Word) stored on the host computer. By default the data is sent to the document folder of that computer. When you want to load and read your own data, the computer has to find it on your USB stick.

When finished writing/editing and you get ready to save your document, you have to make sure that it is being sent back to your USB memory. The computer, by default, points to the Document folder on the same computer as the program. The best method is to use the Save As command which allows you to select your drive as well as the name of the file that you are processing.

Normally, Word is part of the Office suite. When it is installed on the computer, it is common to set up a toolbar with icons. One of them shows a small diskette which sends the document back to where is came from; in this case the USB memory stick. You should experiment with a small document which includes the current date and time. When you bring the document back, you will then know that it went to the proper place. You can put a time stamp as a hidden note in the document where it will only be revealed to you.

Computer Corner 1035. Copyright 2008 by Roger Giler. Send questions for this column to P.O. Box 402, Wilton 06897 or e-mail Roger@Giler.com.