SZ & Vista, My Take, Redux

It is possible to get Vista running on a SZ330PB with all of the hardware features enabled, although I have not tried to do anything with the cellular modem as mine is not activated. This is no trivial task as a mix of XP and Vista drivers are required with some from the EU site and others from the US SZ450N model (with the model.txt hack). The only other OS where this is possible, again by collecting drivers here and there, is XP. Due to its complexity, nothing else will work all that well on the SZ.

Members of this forum report that Vista runs "so well" or beautifully on their machine. To be brief, I hate Vista.

Here are the issues:

Generally awful Nvidia video driver. Its so bad that the Intel 945GM works better. Sometimes the video looks fuzzy and Aero can be distracting, for me at least.

Reduced battery life. This is a YMMV issue, but I suspect that those reporting 3 hour plus run times are using their machine differently than I did, or have power settings that limit performance or usability. Its the disk thrashing and DX9 desktop that ups the power consumption.

Lower mouse accuracy and generally slower performance. This has been reported on Slashdot and Anandtech, so please don't tell me you don't see any difference. There was probably something wrong with your XP setup.

Lack of drivers for external devices. Does your printer or scanner work?

The OS talks back too much. UAC drives ms crazy. You can turn it off and then there goes the improved security. How about those messages "did the control panel applet work". So far every time I followed the built in diagnostics things got worse. How about "would you like to install this driver with the correct settings". After that the driver would not install no matter what.

Software incompatibility. The first two I found were Winrar and Eraser. Do you run Photoshop? Consider the cost of replacing stuff like Adobe CS2 with CS3.

Perhaps in a year there will be a service pack, better drivers and compatible software. But, I don't want to live in hell for a year.

 

I have to agree...I've been running vista for about over a week now.....and there is no way I am happy with it...Its just not "next level"....also this has a lot to do with Sony's botched up half arsed attempt at putting the drivers together.
The battery issue is diabolical when compared to XP. I've just purchased an extra battery....let me tell you makes no difference to the consumption.

You are right about the Nvidia driver...(but search around the web you will see this is not a Microsoft or Sony issue..its Nvidia...basically they have been lazy and "couldn't be bothered" where as Ati users are happy).

My friend has an over 2 year old Asus notebook..on which we recently installed vista ..all I can say is drivers make a difference the way that machine started to get more and more efficient asd drivers were installed....If a company like Asus can get it together what is wrong with Sony. Asus drivers worked beautifully really giving a new life to the notebook. I can say it was more responsive than my 2GB RAM Core Duo BEAST.

Aslo ASUS drivers for the Fn keys did some really cool transparency hi-res vista animations..whether you were turning off the WiFi...playing around with the sound or brightness....much better than our OSD bar..which belong to windows 95/DOS era.

I will be going back to XP...and wait until Microsoft and Sony get it together.

I personally think Vista needed to be more ..with Leopard (Intel based ?) around the corner, with somesuper cool features ..like Time Machine....This is the time for Microsoft to make that Service Pack 1 what Vista really should have been.

These are just my personal experience with Vista on a SZ.

 

And this is why I went for a Sony that had a preinstalled XP. I'll get my free Vista through the Express Upgrade, but it doesn't mean I'll use it immediately.

 

See my bold comments above..

You can always either go back to XP or dual-boot...no one is forcing anyone to go to Vista anytime soon or later. XP will be supported until 2014...

Personally it's been a great update...minus a few annoyances but the benefits for me far outweigh the negatives.

 

Your post is funny, your major complaint is Sony's apps use a OSD type menu while Asus has some whiz-bang special effects. Then you compare Vista to Leopard OSX which requires you to spend $1000+ on new hardware JUST to run it. Oh and Time Machine is a gimmick, Vista has it without all the retarded special effects - it's called Shadow Copy.

How does that even make sense?

 

^ It's also called System Restore on XP.

 

Like I say its just my take on Vista.....and Sony Vista drivers....I feel they're both not complete yet.

 

Consider this: Today Intel announced they would not use
Vista until SP1 is out. They also said that they knew of no organization that would adopt vista until then. The US DOT (which includes the FAA) has prohibited the adoption of Vista, Office 2007 and even IE7.

Mobilehavoc, if you can get 3:15 on stamina, I can get close to 4 hours doing the excact same thing with XP. Believe me, there was no single process causing a problem. Some have reported problems with the Smart Wi, but I did not have it installed. Your comment "just two web sites" cracks me up. They tested objectively and extensively. Anyone who thinks Vista runs as fast as XP is either in denial or had a bad XP install, or got rid of a slow running AV for something better when changing to Vista.

I'd like to ask the sort of question you usually ask. What legitimate reason do you have for switching to Vista? What does it run or do that SP did not do? Do your eyes crave Aero that much? IMO, folks that respond to others posts by editing and disagreeing line by line, are simply unable to organize their thoughts well enough to write a complete paragraph.

 

You hit the nail on the head...there is obviously a reason because you seem to have spent some time installing Vista on your own laptop...am I right?

For me, because it's my choice and I can. I never said I switched, I have a dual-boot config so I can boot into XP ANY time I want. I'm not stupid, I'm not saying Vista is perfect but it's nowhere near as bad as you are describing it.

No self-respecting corporation will switch to Vista for at least 1-2 years...that makes perfect sense, most large companies like the one I work at JUST converted to XP 2 years ago. They have different issues to deal with you don't (custom inhouse apps, training support staff, cost with new hardware, etc. etc.).

Also there's no reason for them because employees use work computers for WORK not for Aero or 3D or multimedia, etc.

My only point is you are spreading FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) because you personally had a bad experience with Vista...I'm trying to show that there's another side to it so people should at least give it a shot.

 

Mobilehavoc-

The only reason that I installed Vista was to see if it could be done and to see how it was. I was set up for dual boot as well. While an individual may not have the magnitude of problems that a large organization would have with adopting Vista, something like Photoshop not working is going to be a show stopper for anyone who uses that very popular and excellent program.

Just because I don't like Vista, that does not make my comments FUD. All I give is the facts. Some of this stuff that has been batted around the net with respect to the Vista DRM might be classified as FUD. Missing or bad drivers and software compatibility issues are hardly FUD.

The folks that I feel sorry for are the ones who go Best Buy or Fry's and come home with a new computer only to find something essential does not run under Vista. Then the manufacturer of the machine (and Sony does this) tells them they are not supporting XP on the new models delivered with Vista, so they have nothing to fall back to.

By the way, you did some good work with that Vista Clean Install thread. I used a slightly different recipe, but your info made for a good reality check.