New Laptop without the Demon VISTA

Me_again

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Thanks DR1 for the thread, started by Sosua-Marc, that opened up for me the down-sides of Vista.

http://http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista.html

Finding this thread was especially important as I was just about ready to buy. After checking out Staples, Best Buy and The Source and . . . you get it . . . I finally bought off of a small local company that hadn't had to sell its soul to Billy G. So the laptop came with whatever OS you wanted or with none. Fine. I got it with XP and it works just fine on 1 GB, RAM.

wbr
 

Rocky

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Thanks DR1 for the thread, started by Sosua-Marc, that opened up for me the down-sides of Vista.

http://http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista.html

Finding this thread was especially important as I was just about ready to buy. After checking out Staples, Best Buy and The Source and . . . you get it . . . I finally bought off of a small local company that hadn't had to sell its soul to Billy G. So the laptop came with whatever OS you wanted or with none. Fine. I got it with XP and it works just fine on 1 GB, RAM.

wbr
That's great.
Glad it worked out for you.
I'm guessing that it's going to be near impossible to get laptops without Vista in the near future, so you just got in under the wire.
May it bring you many happy years of good service.
PS: Don't forget to remove all that crap like Norton, etc.
 
Jan 9, 2004
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Fyi

As my desktop machine in the D.R is running XP, I wanted my new Laptop to also run XP.

The solution is currently provided by Dell (and perhaps some other P.C. makers of which I am not aware). The Vostro line of desktops and Laptops from Dell come with the choice of Vista or XP.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 

Rocky

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As my desktop machine in the D.R is running XP, I wanted my new Laptop to also run XP.

The solution is currently provided by Dell (and perhaps some other P.C. makers of which I am not aware). The Vostro line of desktops and Laptops from Dell come with the choice of Vista or XP.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
That's wonderful news.
Hope it lasts for awhile.
 

J D Sauser

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I agree all the problems associated with the new OS Vista is tempting to try to boycott it. However, the experience is, that time just keeps moving on.
I bought a "basic" Gateway consumer laptop in the States, last October. I say basic, because it is off the shelf and was just under $600.oo. I comes with a 140Gid HD, Intel processor, and 2 Gigs of ram. The HD and the 2 Gigs was what sold me on that model, when comparing it to other offers at the time in that price range.
It has Vista Home Premium on it.
What did worry me was that it has a very basic little graphic card which is an integral part of the mother board and has NO dedicated memory (turbo cache). Well, while I do a lot of 3D design, both technical as architectural on my home based desktop machine running on XP SP2 and which is equipped with a special needs graphics card with a dedicated 1Gig of RAM, I decided I'd just use this little laptop as my travel computer, mainly to stay on-line and plug into my skype, where ever I go. Watch movies, write, read... the usual little bitty nonsense consumer stuff.

Well, my first impression was, that it was the first computer I ever bought (new), where EVERYTHING seemed to work without having to update drivers, call customer service and so forth. Vista is very easy on the eyes as all transitions are smooth (which uses a lot of power) and generally looking "purdy".
I have had NO problems so far, except that I miss some simple things like the "Folder UP" option next to the "Back" and "Forward" in explorer based windows (I can't understand that). Some of the every recurring security questions ("... do you really want to?" and THEN "... are your really sure you really want to...?" ) quickly become annoying.
I could also see where older people or folks with lesser eyesight my have a harder time to find files and folders and/or just find themselves distracted by all the suggestions and array of split windows etc.

Well, I was initially so happy with it, I ordered an OEM disc for my desktop, thinking it was not worth to stay behind and also that I'd rather not run TWO separate systems.

Today, a couple of months later, I still enjoy my little lap top, but I have decided against installing Vista on my desktop (workhorse). Not just for the obvious issue that Vista senselessly gobbles up all sorts of resources, but because it has actually has been stripped off some of the nice handling features of XP (which I really can't understand).
I have however, re-skinned my XP to look like Vista (that's real purdy now!) using a free downloadable program called Vista Inspirat (here's the site) which even gives the windows some "faux" transparancy looks and actually uses up very, very little more resources as the basic XP skins. I like it, I love it and it make my transition between the two different machines less awkward.

All in all, I can understand all the opposition against Vista, I don't understand the rationale behind clogging up computers with an OS either, but I remember those who weathered against every each one new version of windows... I guess where they are today? As always, using the second last version and swearing they will not (again) move up. MSFT has never shown any sensibility for the concerns of it's millions of customers, I suspect they won't change that policy now. So, the only alternative left is looking at alternative OS's I guess.

... J-D.
 

cobraboy

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I can't recall another situation where "old" technology was a cost-more option.

I'm not sure the boys in Redmond expected that.
 

Rocky

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Thanks JD for that assessment and the link as well.
Am downloading it now and will give it a try on one of the more powerful puters.
If it flies nicely, I'll try it on the weaker puters too and get back with a report on how well they handled it.
 

Robert

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If you want Vista to run really fast on a laptop, then your going to need to install it on a Mac according to PC World, how sad is that :)

"The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year (through 10/25/07) is a Mac. Try that again: The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac. Not a Dell, not a Toshiba, not even an Alienware".

PC World - In Pictures: The Most Notable Notebooks of 2007

When your compare Macs to other branded laptops (Dell, Toshiba, Gateway etc) they have better specs, cheaper and the build quality is years ahead!

Right now, personal laptop sales are being driven by Apple. Go Stevie!!! :)
 

Rocky

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Some of you may be aware that puters are super expensive in Europe, perhaps double our American prices.
So this fellow buys one of my friends a laptop.
Naturally, she comes to me for the clean up.
When first booted up, it would take 20 seconds to do anything, and I mean anything.
Of course it was the standard mess that Vista always is, but even after cleaning it up, it wasn't all that great.
That's when I went checking the guts.
I'm almost positive that they wouldn't sell a model like this in the US.
It was a brand new HP, with a 1.8 Celeron.
Anyone who's ever owned a Celeron will tell you how useless they are.
A Pentium 3, 900 mhz would be as good or better, and as if that wasn't bad enough, it only had half a gig of ram.
That set up is just barely adequate for XP, but with Vista, it'll always be a pig, no matter how much modifying and cleaning one can do.
The Vista version on it didn't even have the fancy graphics.
I guess they knew that the machine couldn't support it.

We can consider ourselves lucky, those of us who buy our puters in America.
 
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I banned all Windows versions 2 months ago. I am so happy i did. I got the free Ubuntu Linux for free with open Office (free aswell) free updates, everthing free and most inportant it allways works, no viruses, and ten times faster
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Some of you may be aware that puters are super expensive in Europe, perhaps double our American prices.

Yes rocky, name brands are much more expensive. I just priced a Dell Inspirion 1720 with same specs on US and Europe dell site, and the difference was 500 dollars (1200 against 1700). For 1200 I could get same specs as US Dell in Europe on brands like Asus and Acer, MTS, etc. some Korean brands.

So yes and true, comps are more expensive in Europe, and even with DR import taxes thwy are probably less expensive in the DR than they are in Europe.
 

J D Sauser

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Yes rocky, name brands are much more expensive. I just priced a Dell Inspirion 1720 with same specs on US and Europe dell site, and the difference was 500 dollars (1200 against 1700). For 1200 I could get same specs as US Dell in Europe on brands like Asus and Acer, MTS, etc. some Korean brands.

So yes and true, comps are more expensive in Europe, and even with DR import taxes thwy are probably less expensive in the DR than they are in Europe.


The price difference nowadays is almost nil today (D, CH, ES I can't speak for other countries (and yes, I know CH is not in the EU), especially when you compare the equipment of the machines. Yes, they may have the same model name and looks but many times machines assembled for the EU market are much better loaded. It's a different market, thus the marketing strategies are different too.
Against that, obviously the high EUR vs. the plummeting USD may change things slightly in favor of the US market. Keep in mind also that since 2 years, by law all consumer good sold in the EU carry a 2 year warranty. In Germany, often a 3 year warranty is standard not just on Dells and such but many off the shelf products.

I must say I did not know one could run Windows on a Mac. But it's a cool statement anyway. :)

Rocky, as to the web site you are advised to check your Win XP version for compatibility carefully! BEFORE you try to install that thang, OK?

... J-D.
 

DannyS

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Jun 19, 2007
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Dell and Vista

I'm guessing that it's going to be near impossible to get laptops without Vista in the near future.....

If you call Dell, not making the purchase online, you can specify XP instead of VISTA.

And by the way, I work in IT. I talked to a couple of our network guys, one has no problems at all with VISTA and the other didn't install it because of bad press. Problems could have been caused by installation mistakes.

I have never had any problems with any MS OS except Windows ME which everyone recognized as a piece of.....and I have worked in the field for 25 years and used a variety of OS's. Kicked and screamed into the graphical world (give me my command line) but every time I have to code in the UNIX world, I am now complaining about ease of use. Maybe in 5 years you'll be wishing you had VISTA back, ha.
 

Rocky

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If you call Dell, not making the purchase online, you can specify XP instead of VISTA.
That may be correct with certain machines, but I can tell you that I just bought a Dell with Vista, installed XP and there were 6 drivers non available for my puter.
They make no XP drivers for those particular components, so Dell cannot sell you any puter with XP, it has to be one that is compatible. (Probably an older machine)
 

Tamborista

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You can configure Inspiron as well as the higher end DELL XPS notebooks with XP. Most desktops, that are not prebuilt also allow for XP OS as a choice.
Dell Notebooks - Home & Home Office

I have Vista running on a higher end workstation and have had no issues, my software actually runs faster than XP Pro. I will confess it has 4G RAM!

tambo'
 
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Rocky

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You can configure Inspiron as well as the higher end DELL XPS notebooks with XP. Most desktops, that are not prebuilt also allow for XP OS as a choice.
Dell Notebooks - Home & Home Office

I have Vista running on a higher end workstation and have had no issues, my software actually runs faster than XP Pro. I will confess it has 4G RAM!

tambo'
I don't get it, Tambo.
The very first laptop on that link,
Dell Inspiron 1525 - Notebook
says nothing about being able to buy it with, or put XP on it, unless I'm blind or something.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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MOST, not ALL DELLS can be purchased with Windows XP or Vista, I know how terrible Vista is, so I see where this is going.

You are right, I am wrong.