New Computer Sale pends

I put together a purchase last eve on Dell for Studio 17 laptop with home premium version Vista- 32 bit. Also selected intel core 2 duo t9400 2.53 ghz/ 1066 hz/ fsb/6 mb cache, and 4 G shared dual channel DDR2 HD 3650 and 250 GB SATA hard drive (7200 rpm). Then I was also comparing a similar setup on Hewlett Packard site which says this system is not compatible with the Vista 32 bit I had chosen, I should reduce cache size or upgrade to 64 bit Vista.
Of course, I cant get Dell on the line till they open later in the day, and I have reservations about the whole policy of charging for help in the future after this purchase is complete, but I do have finance credit so prefer Dell only for that reason. Can someone recommend how the above config will work or what I can select that will give my son quick response time for normal computer activity.
He does not do gaming but enjoys his music and video stuff.

 

only thing i see is that 32bit windows will not utilize the 4 gb of ram, but your computer will run fine
http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-maximum-memory-in-32-bit-windows-vista/

 

Then if I have the option of less cache, but want fast response, should I go with 2 or 3gb?
Is Vista 32 compatible with most of my former xp type programs?

 

i cant say for sure what programs you have will work ok with vista, in my experience, most, if not all of my "older" programs have run in vista..as for the memory size, i guess it's personal preference, and price...so 2gb will be fine (prolly the minimum i would use with vista)

 

you might as well get the 3gb if youre not going with the 64bit.

 

thought so. thx