Leslie, one word of caution in buying Vista. If you want compatibility w/ XP Pro, you may not find it. I use Vista Business edition. I would definitely not use the Vista Home edition that comes w/ theses store bought machines. Vista Ultimate would be fine, or Business would be fine. Just don't use Home or Home Premium.
Laptops are fine in my office, that's what I use in the exam rooms. They come w/ their own battery backup, so that saves on UPS devices that I don't need to buy. However, the wireless feature is not recommended. I used wireless for 6 months until I moved to my new office (hard wired). Dropped signals occur frequently, the computer reconnects to the network automatically, however you only need a dropped signal for a millisecond and then you've lost connection to the database in AC. This can corrupt data and at the very least it causes frustration in having to reconnect frequently (1-10x daily).
