If you’re upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 it should be a fairly easy install. You can do what’s called an in-place upgrade as long you install the same version of Windows 7 as you have of Vista.

For instance, if you have Windows Vista Home premium you can upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. You can also go from Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional, and from Vista Ultimate to 7 Ultimate. Any other upgrade, like Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional, will require a clean install. That means you can’t just turn Vista into 7. You have to export all your data, erase the hard drive, and then reinstall all your applications and data. A lot of computer experts think you should do a clean install anyway, just to make sure your machine runs better.

See our video for upgrading XP to Windows 7 for that process.

But if you’re lucky enough to be able to do an in-place upgrade and want to, here’s what you do.

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Originally posted at CNET TV

Remember desktop PCs? People used to use them before laptops were powerful. Some people still use them today, believe it or not! I have one – ha! If you want to see what all the fuss is about in regards to desktop PCs, then Woot! has a pretty stellar deal on a quad-core Gateway system with 8GB of RAM for $480 – it’s refurbished but carries a 90-day warranty.

Other specs include:

• Intel Core2 Quad Q8200 CPU at 2.33GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB
• 8GB DDR2 RAM
• NVIDIA GeForce GT120 GPU with 1GB DDR2 memory
• 640GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
• Card reader, HDTV tuner, 8-channel audio, DVD burner, Gigabit Ethernet
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

So for $480, there’s plenty of pop here. Might take a while before this thing is OBSOLETE.

ASUS’ NVIDIA Ion-powered EeeBox PC has gotten sort of official. It’s on ASUS’ website now, at least, although there’s still not much in the way of pricing or availability. The specs look pretty nice, though, with a whisper-quiet setup thanks to a dual-core Atom N330 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, 802.11b/g/n wireless, card reader, and, of course, the horsepower to push full 1080p video.

There’s HDMI and VGA output, along with three USB ports and an eSATA port for external upgrades. The system weighs 2.4 pounds and will be available in black or white. The OS is listed as Windows Vista Home Premium, which pretty much means that this little guy will be out before late October when Windows 7 gets released.

EeeBox PC EB1012 [Asus via Gizmodo]

Looks like Dell’s dropped the starting price on the super thin Adamo to $1499 — when the machine was officially announced in March, the starting price was $1999.

The base configuration will get you the following features:

• 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• 2GB of RAM
• 128GB solid state drive

That’s for the “Admire” version. Step up to the “Desire” configuration, which has now been lowered to a starting price of $2299, and you’ll get a 1.4GHz CPU, double the RAM, and a mobile broadband chip.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t make the arbitrary comparison to the MacBook Air, so here goes:

The $1499 base price of the Adamo is now the same as the MacBook Air. With the MacBook Air you get a 1.86GHz CPU, 120GB SATA hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics versus the Adamo’s 1.2GHz CPU, solid state drive, and Intel graphics. The Adamo also weighs about a pound more: four pounds versus three pounds. And the higher-end MacBook Air starts at $1799 versus the $2299 Adamo. You get a 2.13GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, NVIDIA graphics and a 128GB solid state drive with the MacBook Air whereas with the Adamo you get 4GB of RAM and mobile broadband, albeit with a slower CPU.

The Mac runs OS X, the Dell runs Windows. Dell is based in Texas and Apple is based in California. The Apple comes in light gray or light gray and the Dell comes in black or white. Dell’s CEO sometimes wear a suit and is named Michael and Apple’s CEO wears jeans and turtlenecks and is named Steve. Dell is better if you like Dell better than Apple and Apple is better if you like Apple better than Dell. Or if you hate Dell, you might like Apple better. If you hate Apple, you might like Dell better. If you hate both, maybe you own an Acer or an HP or something.

Dell Adamo [Dell.com via Gizmodo]

A true 720p HD Netbook: the 1810T

(Credit: Macles)

The beauty of breaking out of the Windows XP mold is saying good-bye to Microsoft’s set limitations on Netbook power (most notably, 1GB of RAM). Setting the stage for the fall’s next-gen Battle of the Future Netbooks, Acer’s as-yet-unofficial (according to Acer) Timeline 1810T has all the trimmings that place it head and shoulders above the currently Atom N270 and N280-dominated crowd. Leaked photos have hit online, and it looks like a fusion between Acer’s Aspire One line and its super-slim, recently reviewed Timeline 3810T.

First off, it has a ULV processor that’s faster than Atom Netbooks by a fair margin. Then there’s the HD video decoding. Also, the 1810T can support up to 4GB of RAM. Other bonuses include HDMI, b/g/n Wi-Fi, and the ability to upgrade to Windows 7 (because it runs Windows Vista Home Premium).

Details revealed so far:

• 1.4GHz Intel ULV SU3500 processor
• 11.6-inch 1366×768 screen
• Intel GS45 Express chipset
• Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics
• Up to 4GB RAM
• HDMI
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Optional 3G
• Eight-hour battery life (similar to the 3810T)

More pics after the break:
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The 18.4-inch D1100 from Averatec showed up at my house recently and I thought, hey, lazy Saturday — let’s set it up. I had forgotten the specs, the price, and all the relevant details but when I had gotten everything together (a process which took less than ten minutes) I can tell you that I’m impressed by how nice the computer looks.

Especially since — surprise! — it only costs $599.

The body is a nice, shiny black color, with the 18.4-inch screen resting on a chrome neck that adjusts up and down in order to reach a comfortable viewing angle. The LCD panel can be laid flat and pushed down to rest atop the machine’s body should you need to move the computer to another room.

Unfortunately, the screen doesn’t swivel from side to side — just up and down. And the wired mouse and keyboard kind of detract from the whole all-in-one idea. They just kind of look out of place with their cords running to the back of the machine. Again, though, this thing barely costs as much as a high-end netbook.

Internally, you’ve got a 64-bit AMD dual-core 3250e CPU, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, DVD burner, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, built-in 1.3-megapixel camera and, of course, the 18.4-inch screen, which features a native resolution of 1680×945 (so no 1080p, sorry) and is powered by an ATI Radeon HD 3200-series GPU.

The machine comes preloaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, which returns an Experience Index score of 3.0 — the lowest subscore being in the graphics department. Everything seems relatively snappy so far, but I haven’t really loaded anything onto the computer yet, aside from replacing IE with Google Chrome and uninstalling Norton Antivirus because it asked too many questions and wouldn’t let me close out of it without resorting to the Task Manager.

And, of course, the question on everyone’s mind: How does Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (that’s right, 06) play on it? It plays wonderfully. The graphics only top out at 1024×768, but everything looks nice and fluid. The sound from the tiny speakers is pretty tinny, though. Tin-like, that is.

Full review coming up once I put this thing through the paces. Here are some photos:

Averatec D1100 Series [ShopAveratec.com]