Returning 1420 because of Vista...

More I read more convinced I get that its not possible to install XP on 1420 with complete hardware support.

And I'm totally hating Vista after reading how it hogs CPU and downgrades HD video audio and EVEN VOIP audio! Not to mention deleting your softwares or refusing to install at all.

Anybody use skype on vista??

Should I return it after a few days? Or refuse to accept delivery? Or ask them to send me XP? I'm sure I would throw the laptop in a wall if Vista starts to act up like its designed to do.

 

Don't make a decision based on READING something. There are a lot of Vista haters out there for no reason.

 

Vista doesn't hog CPU either. Mine idles at 1% when I'm doing nothing.

 

After using vista for a few months then having to use XP again the last month or so.....I can say I had less problems with Vista than I do on XP. Atleast that's the way it seems to me.

 

I'm just going to keep replying to this stupidity. Vista doesn't delete any software. No OS does that, unless it's a virus or something and it gives it the boot. There are a few applications that aren't compatible with Vista, yes, but most of them can be run in compatibility mode.

 

I'm not hating Vista at all.... I actually quite like it... Sure its no Mac os, but its not bad...

 

I use Skype on Vista just fine. I don't have any problems w/ vista personally. There are a couple legacy apps I had to use compatibility mode on, but otherwise it's been solid for me.

 

Wait... the Vostro 1400 is essentially the inspiron 1420, except with a black case, and the ability to have XP pre-installed. Couldnt you just go to dell.com and download the XP drivers for it, and use them on the 1420?? I hope so, since thats my plan when i order my 1520(get it with home premium, and put a retail copy of XP pro that i picked up for $60 until vista becomes more stable.)

 

Read up on some expert reviews. Only stupid thing to do is staying ignorant about what Vista does behind the scenes.

 

Yes thats exactly what I have to try, and call Dell and ask first for any info they care to give me. If I cant get a perfect install of XP on it I don't see any reason to keep this laptop. I would starve and buy a Mac rather than use Vista only.

 

Vista is 10 times better than XP ever was, buddy...

 

I really like Vista on my Dell M1210. Performance seems fine to me and I only had a gig of RAM installed at first. It's a lot more fun and visually appealing than XP so I wouldn't want to go back to XP if I had Vista available. Vista hogs more resources because it's faster than XP and requires more memory for caching application data for quick loading.

 

Just the idea that Vista plays your Blu-ray and HD-DVD in low quality just to protect MPAA and no DRM free content allowed to protect RIAA makes me feel like a Microsoft slave. How are you guys submitting to such things?

Its like paying someone to kick you in the youknowwhats!

Disgusting business practice.

 

i have no idea what you are claiming is true or not, but it doesn't bother me at all. i don't have blu-ray or HD-DVD drive on my laptop to begin with, so I don't really care.

 

vostro 1400 does not offer pre-install XP (US). It is totally annoying and I know I have several days of headaches in front of me trying to convert to XP- as is well documented in this forum, it's a pain and full functionality will take some time.

Autocad 2007 is a mega pricey app and my laptop must run it. Has anyone tried any Autocad series apps in compatability mode on Vista?

 

for no reason should xp not be able to be installed instead of vista.. if a device now has vista drivers it most surely has xp drivers as well i cant see any reason at all this would not work

 

I am currently using XP on my 1420. However, it was a little work putting the drivers together. I am only missing a working quickset for XP. But everything else seems to be working fine. I am someone who cannot use Vista because of work related reasons (I do a lot of work at home).So XP was a must for now, or I can't do my job. So it can be done, but it does require some work to get everything working.

 

u mean, it can *support* XP drivers, but where the h*ll are you going to find them? and don't say "google is your friend"
sticking to the issue, has anyone got their Vostros successfully running on XP (ones that came with Vista)?

 

Yes, Vista is fine for me too.

My experience only - Vista is turning out to be much better than when I started with XP.

 

the post above yours looks to be running xp.. the 1400 and 1420 are the same thing according to dell so i dont see it as a problem ...

 

Yea I had my hate all ready for vista when I got my m1210. Then I grew up and realized it really is a great step up in OS. I loved XP and Vista is even better.

 

Here are some instructions for the installation of XP, thanks to crystalsunrise:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143417&highlight=1420+reinstall

Page 4 of the thread has additionall info (re. bluetooth and video drivers).

 

Okay FYI...you CAN install XP on the 1420 with EVERYTHING working....maybe I'll make a real guide soon to help all the people struggling with this (I struggled with it myself...had to read tons and tons). It takes some work, but in the end it's worth it.

 

Hey lightflux, it would be a great help if you could make a guide, complete with links and all. I just don't want a machine that runs on a patchwork of drivers forced to work somehow. Its not what I'm paying for. Is there any way of getting hold of a Vostro drivers CD or something? I haven't yet checked if Dell lets you download those.

I've seen crystalsunrise's process and it seems like a very frustrating process and not 100%. I'll check again for updates on that thread.

 

^ you mean like this one he did?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150033

 

I actually like Vista quite a bit. There have only been two problems I've had so far, and both have been fixed:

1) My BF2 wouldn't play online; I found that I had to "Run as Administrator," and all was fine.
2) My pen tablet driver didn't work at first, but I used an earlier version and now it's stable again.

Plus, Vista (on top of looking cool) has a few more streamlined menus and such that make navigating smoother. It's nice

 

Hey vxt, I just wrote a guide after posting this last night. Here's a link to the guide:


http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150033&highlight=total+guide

 

2008 works fine.

 

You hate MS so much that you want to avoid Vista, but still run XP? Guess what, they get your money either way, get over it. You are not going to get a 1420 with an HD video player in it anyway.

 

Wow, I see a very blissful fellow here....

 

The REAL stupid thing is relying on "experts" which are usually full of crap. I hate reading most tech stuff on review sites because even though it's usually 90% correct, there is always that 10% they BS because they don't know what they're talking about.

Vista is a great OS, and the only people that hate it are: gamers or idiots. And here's a tip, we gamers are about to HAVE to switch anyway, because a lot of new games will be DX10 only (some already are!). I can understand people not being able to use it because of work or school, but to just hate it blindly because you're too dumb to understand it yourself and rely on writers, well that's not cool.

 

Vista is already being widely accepted in the gaming community, not to offend anyone here, but the majority of the holdouts now dont really know why they are holding out, its the usual memory hog, precious cpu cycles consumed, incompatibilities ( that have long since been resolved ) excuses, vista had and still has some problems, but most of the ones now are very minor, and even upon launch, I had to give vista credit, it was by far the best windows launch I've seen, not everything worked perfectly, BUT, everything I tested worked, which has never been the case in previous experiences.I use vista on all my machines now, and I recommend others to use it now as well, unless you have a very specific need to use something else.

 

i hate vista, the security is so unbelievable having to say "ok" 8 million times & then 3 seconds later your saying "ok" 500 hundred more times. took me about 5 times to try & download itunes on my new 1420. i also find it very hard to go in & find anything on the computer. computer is awesome, OS sux!

 

u do know there is a very simple way to turn off those notifications right?

 

Not writers my friend, hardware/software architects. They can write too. And they can dig deeper than what you and I see on the screen. Please, at least read some technical details before you sell your soul to Vista. Too late for you obviously.

And its not blind hate, I've been programming since 1995. I can surely understand these things better than you gamers.

 

Gamer or programmer everyone has an opinion on Vista. A cool collected civil discussion on the matter would be appreciated please guys, let's not turn this into a flame war.

My experiences of Vista are that with Dual Core and 2GB ram it works quite well. Also with run as administrator things designed for XP tend to work well. There are a few bad points which need to be resolved, like any new OS, SP1 should sort that... we hope!

 

Blanket statements like that are hardly ever useful....

In corporate environments or scenarios where Vista drivers don't exist, if you are going with Windows, XP is the only reasonable choice at the moment.

Vista has some neat features and I am currently dual booting between XP and Vista, since I cannot rely on Vista yet in a production environment.

Just like Windows XP and 2000 before it, new operating systems take a while to shake out.

I will add Linux into the mix next and boot into each operating system as necessary. There isn't necessarily a best tool for all jobs.

-LQ

 

I need to do that too. Did you just install XP from within Vista or did you boot from the XP cd? Does the windows boot manager (OS selector screen) come up now?

 

If Dell can install Xp on an Inspiron 1420(Vostro 1400) then you can.

 

Vastly Simplified version w/Vista installed first.......

1) Back up initial partitions
2) Partition hard drive so that XP has its own partition. In my case, I only gave Vista 20GB and gave the rest to XP.
3) Install XP on the new partition after booting from XP CD.
You need to make sure that you have access to the necessary SATA drivers.
4) Repair Boot Manager using Vista recovery since the XP install mangle the original one
5) Use VistaBootPro to add XP to Boot Manager

With a little bit of luck, you will be able to boot into both XP and Vista.

You can search google for the following for more details:
1420 XP
1420 XP Vista

-LQ

 

At this point lots of people have done it. Unfortunately however the current procedure is not recommended for novices. It is currently 'plug and pray' instead of 'plug and play'

1420 With Windows XP (that is, I nerfed Vista)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143417

TOTAL GUIDE: 1420 With XP!!! - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150033

The key is to back up everything, take your time and not blame the world if things go wrong because they will .

-LQ

 

Yes, "deeper than what you and I see on the screen". But are those "technical details" and problems going to seriously affect YOU?? With computers there are always TONS of problems reported, but when you experience it yourself nothing is really as serious as it seems to be. Furthermore, I think you know that not everything reported is true for every computer.

There is a difference between HEARING about the problems and really experiencing them yourself. I know that when "experts" reveals a problem they tend to make it sound greater than it actually is.

I would also like to hear what SPECIFIC problems that you actually heard about. So far, all the issues in your original post were contradicted. Apparently the experts aren't always right. For your information, I don't have any issue with VOIP softwares such as skype.

 

Thanks much, wasn't sure if Vista can be dual booted without a 3rd party boot manager app.