SZ premium - XP or Vista?

Hi

I've been thinking about getting an SZ for over 4 months.

Right now I can get a premium SZ4 or SZ3 for about the same price.

The main advantage of the SZ3 is that I know XP will work with all my software...

With SZ4 it might be interesting to be an earlyish adopter of Vista but so many people seem to be less than happy with the software.

I noticed on hear a thread about a 'semi' clean install of Vista. Does the SZ4 run badly out of the box??? Is performance less than on SZ3??

I am an amateur photgrapher and I edit large RAW files and manipulate in photoshop. When dealing with large batches of images I don't want to have to wait... so speedy response is quite important to me.

Very grateful for any input on the relative performance of SZ3 and SZ$

Ciao

H.

 

Let me tell you a short story about XP and Vista on my SZ4. I think SZ3 and SZ4 has very close hardware setup so in my opnion, it's the OS these machines provide that we should talk.

First, my SZ "was" preinstalled with Vista Business. It's fast. I say, access to programs and multitasking is a breeze but the dilemma of software compatibility is the biggest issue, nothing more than that. So decided to downgrade to XP. It was pretty hassle on downgrading since you have to hunt for drivers and some tweaks. After installing all the necessary drivers and such, I'm running XP again... But sooner, I am missing Vista again.

Second, I thought XP will run faster on my machine assuming that XP requires lesser hardware requirements and that my SZ48 is quite top of the line when it comes to hardware specs... BUT XP did not. Loading control panel and starting programs is the usual speed i am getting with my old GRT VAIO. In my opinion, alhtough Vista requires higher pc specs, it performs well on these higher machines with adequate or optimum setup.

Last, I have concluded that Vista has better memory management system, better multitasking engine, faster network access and a whole lot more. With Vista, when I'm loading majority of my programs, it's like pulling off an open program on the taskbar whereas XP loads it longer everytime. So, I ENDED up reverting to Vista again. With regards to some software compatibility issues, Microsoft has resolved some of them under KB932246. I am overly happy now again with Vista. And knowing Microsoft has speedy patch releases, I'm confident on using Vista now and in the upcoming future.

With regards to Photoshop CS2, Vista performs fast, loading time will take you 6 or 5 seconds or less. Wherein in XP, it took me approximately 10 seconds or more.

P.S. Some old programs run seemlessly on Vista. Some patches for existing software with problems on Vista are free online. Try them. e.g. Nero Burning ROM.

 

thanks for the story and your thoughts

nice to hear some positive sides to the vista experience, even if it took u a long route to get there

 

If you can get a premium 400 for about the same price of a 300, you should definitely go ahead with the 400 series.

 

many thanks for your input. would you like to suggest some reasons?

 

It already has Vista. i have mentioned it on my previous reply. The SZ300 yes it has XP but sooner or later you will install Vista for sure. Majority of consumer software are now supported or adhered by Vista through online updates.

Another great reason is that you won't have to buy an upgrade or a OEM or RTM version of Vista which will add you cost at the latter time. I have heard so many negative reviews about vista and some of them are garbage and some didn't even got involved with using it but commenting on vista. others are very happy with their upgrades including me. other's were dieharding to install vista on their not-so-capable units and bragging here and there... so many issues, so many excuses.

But still it's your decision to make.

 

Dear Alejandro,

I have to install XP Pro for some application compatibility on my SZ48. Can you please tell me where you got the drivers. Your help will be highly appreciated.

 

Unless you have specific programs that you KNOW you will immediatley need XP for, I'd say go with the SZ4XX as well. I have a SZ360 that's running Vista --- I really like the Vista environment, and haven't run into any major software incompatabilities/glitches yet (the worst has been I can't seem to get the properties window in Dreamweaver UltraDev to detach itself from the bottom of the screen - oh noes!).

I regularly use CS2, Dreamweaver UltraDev (which is older --- I was super scared it wasn't going to work), and the MSOffice XP suite, among other assorted things.

B/c of an adventageous purchase time, I was able to get the Vista upgrade for free ---- which means that I, effectively, have access to both OS's.. but I don't see anything that would make me want to revert to XP. If you're already leaning towards the Vista camp, I'd say run with it unless, as I mentioned, you have a very specific reason not to.


OH --- one more thing I'll mention, as a kind-of-aside: Sony does not support SZ4XX computers that are running user-installed XP operating systems. Additional food for thought.

 

to me, it is a no brainer to go with the SZ4 series, since you get higher machine specs (more ram, bigger HD, etc) for about the same amount of money.

Yes, VISTA has some compartible issues, but I think most users are getting used to and getting some work around with it day by day, not to mention Microsoft and other software developers are working on getting their stuffs work again on VISTA.

I do multitasking alot, I honestly don't feel the new Dual Core or VISTA work that much faster than my old Centrino and XP, BUT, my VAIO/VISTA do perform much more stable under stress than Centrino/XP. I can still use other programs smoothly with say photoshop converting a big file in the background and so far the VISTA/Dual Core never freeze on me and I m totally confidence to run something heavy on the background while doing multitasking.

Lastly, if you really can't stand with Vista, most of us has an XP disk from our old machine which can load back into this new VAIO, I think it is a fail safe approach.

 

I Am Not Able To Find Drivers For Sz483 For Xp Sombody Please Help..

Urgent

 

I have to agree with alejandro. Photoshop works great in Vista. Unless you really need XP for some other programs, I'd go with Vista. The only minor problem I had was with Eudora. But it was fixed by running it as Administrator (right click on the program file). I think in about a year or two, Vista will be the main platform, so you will go there eventually.

Not to mention the benefits of Vista. Everything just seems more integrated. I've saved a lot of time by indexing my personal files. Now I can just open the windows menu and type the name of any file or folder I need in the search bar. It might save me a couple of hundred clicks a week..

 

I know its too late...but better late than never!

Here you go:

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/216785