Just ordered my first laptop M50Vm-B1

Hi, I just ordered the Asus M50Vm-B1 and it'll be my first laptop. First off, I would just like to say that I'm amazed at the cost of this laptop. I've done so much research and I couldn't find another laptop that matched the specs with a similar price tag.

Now, I just have a few questions. First off, what should I do once I get the laptop? I read a lot of people are reformatting it to Vista 64-bit or XP right away. Is this all necessary? I would like to get the very most out of this laptop without messing up anything else. Anything else I should do to it aside from changing the operating system?

I'll mainly be doing school work which consists of lots of video editing on Sony Vegas and After Effects. I'll also be doing some gaming on this in my free time.

Lastly, I'll also be purchasing Logitech 5.1 z-5500 speakers and was wondering if this would support the surround sound. I plan to hook this up like desktop when I'm at home and just unplug it when I'm on the go.

Thanks in advance!

 

Once you receive it, get to know the system first.

Inspect for any issues and test thoroughly. Check that its not overheating and such

Create the recovery discs (if applicable)

Most people are doing clean formats to get rid of bloatware and such. If your not happy with the performance or all the crap it comes with then a clean install should be in order.

 

Should the system be fine as it is? If not, which operating system should I install to get the best performance? XP or Vista 64-bit?

 

Yes, it will. Spend some time with the system enjoying your first new notebook before you go and start tweaking .

Asus doesn't ship with the level of trial software etc that HP/Dell/Sony are known for, so take it slow. Vista is better than people tend to give it credit for, although there are lots of dedicated XP people around here who would disagree probably. You aren't likely to gain anything by moving from V32b to V-64, other than potentially introducing some driver or other unexpected conflicts/driver issues.

 

I don't think you can do a clean install with the recovery disc that comes with it, you'd need a retail copy. Instead, what you can do is just uninstall all the bloatware, it's not as clean, but better than leaving it. Top of the list is Symantec, make sure you get that off your system immediately. Second there are some performance considerations with Vista such as:

Disabling drive indexing
Disabling automatic scheduled defragmentation
Disabling unneeded startup services and applications

I am probably forgetting a couple more...

 

Well I believe I have XP laying around somewhere in pile. I've also heard that Vista 64-bit can be installed using the the 32-bit cd-key? If not, I have no problem just buying which ever operating system will work best. I just don't want to install everything then have to reformat with a new operating system, I rather just do everything at the start.

 

any suggestions?

 

Yes 64bit can be installed with your 32bit licence, its just different architectures.

You can dual boot for multiplier OS's

 

I have actually seen reports that 32bit keys do not work with 64 installs; that is because the key is OEM. So you may want to look into that before trying to install. Or simply try it if you can spare the time

For tweaking Vista and a list of possible ASUS software to remove, see my Vista optimization guide (link in sig).

 

Dell and other brands are giving out the 64bit install disc if you request for it.

Difference between 32bit and 64bit is little so i dont really see why you would need a new license for it.

But yeah Asus might be different so double check first.

 

My understanding was that the OEM 32-bit license doesn't include the rights to use the 64-bit version; unlike the retail license, which does. But I'm not sure about this, I never fiddled around with Vista long enough to learn details about it.

 

Awesome, I just picked it up. Been loving every bit of it so far.

1 question about the battery though. Should I drain the battery before charging it again? Or can I plug it in whenever?

Thanks.

 

You can plug it in whenever. Li-Ion batteries have no (or insignificant) memory effect. In fact they like a regime of shallow discharges much better than deep discharges.