Excuse the interruption but according to Microsoft's website, virtual pc is not intended to run on the home edition of vista that comes with the Touchsmart. did you upgrade your version of vista?

Thanks.

I am having the same problems, but I am trying to find a solution before I buy the 25" version of the HP Touchsmart.
I tried to talk to pre-sales, tech support, and some other depts. the names of whicht I am not sure of. I was passed around like a hot potato, not to mentioned cut-off twice when I was taking too much of their time (their limit I was told is 10 minutes).

One guy in the tech support dept. kept telling me that I will be the envy of all my friends! As if I care what my friends will think if I can't use the thing!!

There is nobody at HP who can give any answers about how seeing impaired users can make adaptive changes to make it easier for us to use.

This is a big mistake on their part, because I too believe this would be a great PC for anyone with visual problems, and it looks like I was right since it helped Harry's daughter. I now use an iPod Touch, and love it! I was hoping this PC would also make using a PC easier and more fun.

The only thing I could do was go into a reseller and take it for a "test drive". It took the sales staff about 25 minutes to try and increase the font. They were able to go through a wizard, a bit like the one I use in XP, and make the task bar a bit larger, but still not usable, and my vision in one eye is 20/400! Everyone keeps telling me it would be no problem to load programs like Zoom Text or Jaws if I needed it in the near future, but I would need Zoom Text now, and I am not sure it could make everything large enough for me to use,especially the task bar.

The monitor is a blind users dream! The letters on my LCD TV.Monitor 23" makes everything larger by decreasing the resolution, but they look like they have little pin-prick holes in them, making E's look like B's, m's look like n's, that kind of thing. If the letters are too large, they get scrunched-up on many web sites, or the "next" or "ok" buttons on the bottom are out of site!

I just don't understand why more thought isn't put into making software and PC's more user friendly for the legally blind and seeing impaired.

As for the on screen magnifier - it is a joke! Try using it yourself and you will see what I mean. I have one on my mouse, but it will not cover whole pages or even sentences. Speech readers are not any easier to use.

There will be more and more seeing impaired users as the Baby Boomers get older and will still want to use their beloved PC's, this market should be addressed when these products are being developed, and then supported.

I am glad I found this dialogue before I shelled out big bucks for an HP TouchSmart, but I am going to still try and see if Zoom Text could be run on this system to make it possible for me to use. The touch screen is a dream come true for the visually impaired, and not just for reasons given to sighted users, but the dream can never be realized if the whole OS is out of reach for us.

Very frustrated, but not giving up just yet! I will let you know if I find anything out that may help your daughter. BTW - I live in Canada.

Thanks Dave, I guess I should have read this post before I posted my reply, LOL - oh well,I am glad that at least you get where I am coming from with the magnifier, and I hope it will be an improvement with Windows 7.

Thanks so much for your information about the 64 bit Zoom Text. So far I have only had to use it after eye surgery gone bad, and am hoping to not need it in the future, but one must be realistic when investing so much money on a product that is so important. I find the Touch tech stuff is so large, I doubt Zoom Text would be needed, it is more for the Vista, things like the task bar, and things that can't be made larger with the Ctl scroll wheel command or my keyboard/mouse magnifyer. My intermediate vision is not that bad, but I have severe double vision and even with prism eye glasses, it can make using a PC very tiring on the eyes.

I think I will make the investment now, since I really do need it, instead of waiting for them to come down in price. I just love my iPod Touch, so know this will make using a computer that much more enjoyable and productive since I do so much with photos, videos, and music.

Now to just find one for a decent price in Canada...