if the problem is with the drivers being incompatable a more expensive adaptor will make no difference . the adaptor is not at fault its the drivers incompatability to vista that is the problem ,xp laptops can suffer with the same problem. using a desktop with dreamup (for flashing )works 100% on all boxes ,all tho it can be slow flashing that way .newer dreamboxes such as a dm800 can be flashed via web browser which takes only about 4 minutes ,however flashing a dm500 you need the dreamup way or maybe ftping an image to the /temp folder may work.