PC Makers Hedge on Vista Effect

When Windows XP came out in October 2001 -- weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in the wake of the dot-com bust -- PC sales dropped 2.3% during the quarter, in keeping with the overall trend during that period.

With or without Vista, selling PCs is tough business these days, with electronic gadgets such as MP3 players and smartphones competing for consumer dollars and with many consumers having recently purchased new laptop PCs.

Still, some PC makers have high hopes that Vista will give PC sales a boost.

Dell(DELL Quote) is placing all its chips on Vista when it comes to consumer PCs. Save for one or two models in which Dell is still tweaking driver support, the company's consumer PCs are available only with Vista, says Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman.

"The excitement is real," says Kaufman. "We're getting a lot of questions and a lot of very positive feedback from customers about what Vista can deliver."

According to Dell, the company took orders for thousands of desktop and notebook PCs loaded with Vista in the first weekend of availability.

Without the safety net of XP systems to fall back on, Dell had better hope the Vista excitement keeps up.