dan neely wrote:

USB printers would be the most likely one. Fancy external mice/keyboards with extra/programable buttons would be annother. Do new digicams still need drivers or just look like a generic usb drive to windows?

Oh no! Not another keep behind, driver ain't all there argument...? Haven't we all heard this one some day... like Don't move to Windows 98, NT, 2000, to Xp, drivers... etc.? I'm a little sick of all this. Do we have to wait for Vista/Longhorn to move to the 64 bits platform? And then wait for first service pack to be sure it is stabilized? I'm partisan of moving on because world isn't still. Look: anyway, Win XP Pro 64 is an option. It's simply cool the option is there. I'm no seller of Acer product nor I do want to start a flame here. Beside it already come with a wireless mouse and the keybord is correctly size (like a normal one). Printer driver ain't no low level driver no more neither webcam driver are (look on codeproject for extension written with these in mind if you dont trust me). Driver are more or less personalisation of resident system extension these days. So both would do nice on WoW for most devices, therefore cause no problem at all running in a 64Bits environment. Should there be a new eclectic device than doesn't run on WoW and is sooo cool, one would simply have to verify it come with compatible drivers. If the device is that cool, they'll supply correct sets of drivers soon enough, believe me... I was only talking of something cool here. The option is there. Don't want it : don't take it... Michel is looking for a fast development machine in a reasonnable price range with a reputable company. This one is actually one of the fastest around, even more in 64 bits. This price is fair and Acer has good credentials and lots of reputable reseller/sales point. That's it. I was trying to help. No more... :) __________________________________ "Man in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make" -John Lennon Jean-François Rodrigue, ACSE, CCNA, Application Architect, Groupe S.A.I.T. Inc. jiepher@gmail.com

dan neely wrote:

If you need any 3rd party hardware this isn't a good thing. Win64 driver support is still very sparse

Come one, we're talking about a portable here... what kind of hardware would you add so much to a portable... memory? Hard drive? Beside, it come with all the hardware extension one could possibly dream of on a portable... I consider myself a power user and wouldn't know what to add... it has it all!

Acer has a pretty good reputation. If price tag is not the real problem, then you can buy minimal config, replace the HD with a speedier one and you're on your way...(it come with an eight cell battery, so it shouldn't be a problem) Should you choose to do this, I might be interested in buying your old 100Gb... ;) Another feature you'll love is the fast memory bus at 533Mhz X2, and the screen resolution 1680 x 1050 at 24Bits (with a dedicated 128Mb for video), cool on a not so big (15.4) screen not so heavy (6.4lbs) laptop... And it comes with XP Pro 64bits Edition, a global warranty ranging from 1 to 3 years, plus the case is in wich carbon-fiber, lightweigth and resistant space like composite, which is also really cool! In any way, let me know, should you choose to go for this machine: In looking for myself I've developed a good so-called knowledge (more do and don't) of buying one at fair price! :) Good luck in your search for the right machine! _________________ "You know you've been on the Internet too long when you begin to think you have to turn head sideway to express emotions... ;-)" -Anonymus Jean-François Rodrigue,ACSE, CCNA, Application Architect, Groupe S.A.I.T. Inc jiepher@gmail.com -- modified at 17:34 Thursday 5th January, 2006

I'm in the same situation right now, and basically made my choice to go with the Acer Ferrari 4005, that comes with a whooping 2Ghz Turion, 1Gb (expandable to 2Gb)RAM, a 100Gb Hard drive(5400RPM), a Gigabit ethernet,BlueTooth, along with a buch of super gadgets and a lot of now commonly found on laptops features (like DVD+/-RW, multiFlash reader, etc.), a wireless mouse and a microfiber cleaning cloth! Plus it sports the Ferrari logo... The main problem is if you try to buy it on ebay, beware: a lot of scam try to make you believe they undersell it for a couple of hundreds dollars, wich is way too low... expect paying between 2300$-3300$, depending on vendor/configuration. If you are looking for a good bargain, I must mention that the main difference between the famous Pentium M and its counterpart Celeron M is not the performance, but the power consumption. Therefore, if you are looking for a good bargain, any Celeron M by big vendor (HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc) that sports a Celeron M 370(which is a Pentium M minus SpeedStep and DeepSleep) will be slow to start and a little more power consumming, but with a good battery and a bit more RAM that standard config, you'll love the performances. Personally, knowing that fact, I use a 768Mb Ram Celeron M 370 1.6Ghz daily and run VS 2k3, VS2k5, IIS with .NET, SQL Server 2K and 2K5, and it sings... Interestingly enough, it cost me less than 1000$ CAN, including GST and PST... Should you look for more advice, feel free to give me a shout! "They say Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth. I personnally guess a laughing gas factory could be a good challenger." -Woody Allen Jean-François Rodrigue, ACSE, CCNA Application Architect, Groupe S.A.I.T. jiepher@gmail.com