Laptop Now...Vista Ready???

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff Daly
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Jeff Daly

I was wondering if Microsoft had released the requirements for maximum
enjoyment in Vista? We need to replace a laptop, but I want to be certain
that it will run Vista comfortably when it does come out. I image the Intel
Duo Cores and AMD 64 bit chips should all be powerful enough...what about
the regular P4s and Centrinos??
 
Jeff said:
I was wondering if Microsoft had released the requirements for maximum
enjoyment in Vista? We need to replace a laptop, but I want to be certain
that it will run Vista comfortably when it does come out. I image the Intel
Duo Cores and AMD 64 bit chips should all be powerful enough...what about
the regular P4s and Centrinos??
Click to expand...


Windows Vista Capable PC Hardware Guidelines
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/vistarpc.mspx


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery? .... I know not what course others may take, but as
for me, give me liberty, or give me death! -Patrick Henry
 
x-no-archive: yes


Yes, actually. Vista requires less than even many "average" computers of
today. An AGP graphics card of at least 64MB + a recent CPU + a couple gigs
or so of HDD space, and that's it. Microsoft recommends 512MB RAM, but it
probably can get by on less although probably flies better on more.

And you might note, that Microsoft says Vista will gracefully run on lower
specs in that it can adjust the graphics features it employs on less
'powerful' hardware.

Now, if you are thinking of using an old PCI graphics card and a PII 350
with 128MB RAM .. well .. well .. report back and tell how it went.
 
And you might note, that Microsoft says Vista will gracefully run on lower
specs in that it can adjust the graphics features it employs on less
'powerful' hardware.
Click to expand...

So why bother.......?
 
Well, they went to the effort so that if a person wanted Vista for some
reason, but didn't have the latest equipment, they could run it anyway.
People are always complaining that new MS software requires new hardware.
Now this time they made it easier for those with older hardware and yet
people complain anyway. Just can't please some people I guess. Whine whine
whine.
 
OK...I'm looking at buying an "affordable" TabletPC a Toshiba R15-S822. The
CPU seems to be "Vista Ready", but I can't tell about the GPU. Any ideas?
Full specs follow:

Intel® CentrinoT Mobile Technology featuring:
Intel Pentium® M Processor 725 [1.60GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB]
Intel 855GME Chipset
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG (802.11b/g) integrated Wi-FiT
compliant wireless LAN

Memory
512MB (Min)/2048MB (Max) DDR333 SDRAM 2.5V SODIMM
Memory configurable from 256MB to 2048MB

Hard Drive
60GB (4200 RPM) Parallel (ATA) hard disk drive; 9.5mm height

Optical Disk Drive
Fixed Bay CD-RW/DVD drive

Display
14.1" diagonal standard TFT active-matrix LCD display at 1024x768 (XGA)
native resolution

Graphics
Intel Extreme Graphics 2, 16MB-64MB (DVMA) shared video memory

Communications
Integrated V.92 modem
Integrated 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet
Integrated Intel® Pro/Wireless Network Connection 2200BG (802.11b/g)

(Factory Refurbished)
 
Jeff said:
OK...I'm looking at buying an "affordable" TabletPC a Toshiba R15-S822. The
CPU seems to be "Vista Ready", but I can't tell about the GPU. Any ideas?
Full specs follow:

Intel® CentrinoT Mobile Technology featuring:
Intel Pentium® M Processor 725 [1.60GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB]
Click to expand...


If you want decent performance from the computer, you'll want to at
least double the speed of both the CPU and the FSB.

Intel 855GME Chipset
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG (802.11b/g) integrated Wi-FiT
compliant wireless LAN

Memory
512MB (Min)/2048MB (Max) DDR333 SDRAM 2.5V SODIMM
Memory configurable from 256MB to 2048MB
Click to expand...

You'll also want to at least double the amount of RAM. 512Mb is barely
enough for WinXP, and don't forget that the integrated video adapter
will be sucking up a sizable chunk (expect to dedicate at least 64Mb to
video memory for Vista; its interface is all about "show") of system RAM.

Hard Drive
60GB (4200 RPM) Parallel (ATA) hard disk drive; 9.5mm height
Click to expand...


That's an awfully slow (and small) hard drive, by today's standards.

Optical Disk Drive
Fixed Bay CD-RW/DVD drive

Display
14.1" diagonal standard TFT active-matrix LCD display at 1024x768 (XGA)
native resolution

Graphics
Intel Extreme Graphics 2, 16MB-64MB (DVMA) shared video memory

Communications
Integrated V.92 modem
Click to expand...


Make sure it's a real modem, and not a "Winmodem," which lacks a
processor of its own, and therefore sucks up CPU cycles.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery? .... I know not what course others may take, but as
for me, give me liberty, or give me death! -Patrick Henry
 
Infosink said:
And you might note, that Microsoft says Vista will gracefully run
So why bother.......?
Click to expand...

Why bother what?
- Updating your hardware?
- Or updating to Vista?

Either is explained easily by human nature..
The need to have the biggest and best and brightest and newest thing out.

If you answer "Why Bother?" to that for computers/technology - there are two
possibilities..
- You are not a material person in the leat. Good job.
- Your obsession on the biggest/best/fastest/newest/etc lie elsewhere.
Click to expand...
 
Jeff said:
I was wondering if Microsoft had released the requirements for maximum
enjoyment in Vista? We need to replace a laptop, but I want to be certain
that it will run Vista comfortably when it does come out. I image the Intel
Duo Cores and AMD 64 bit chips should all be powerful enough...what about
the regular P4s and Centrinos??
Click to expand...

Jeff, fairly recently (last two weeks max), there was an article on /.
that indicated that no graphics card currently in existence has what it
takes to play high-capacity next-generation DVDs in HD mode. It seems
that it will be downconverted to 1/4 of the HD resolution. If that
matters to you you might want to wait awhile.

Sorry, a cursory search of /. did not yield the article for a
reference.

MikeB
 
Shenan said:
Infosink said:
And you might note, that Microsoft says Vista will gracefully run


Why bother what?
- Updating your hardware?
- Or updating to Vista?

Either is explained easily by human nature..
The need to have the biggest and best and brightest and newest thing
out.

If you answer "Why Bother?" to that for computers/technology - there
are two possibilities..
- You are not a material person in the leat. Good job.
- Your obsession on the biggest/best/fastest/newest/etc lie
elsewhere.
Click to expand...

But don't forget about hobbiest interest. Some people like being involved in
computing just "because". And Microsoft Vista is where it's at for Windows
on the PC. So it is not a 'bother', but a real interest. Although I must
admit I feel I'm really only just getting started with XP.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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