Sr-190 CTO

I ordered my SR-190 in July with the following specs:
2.4ghz
4GB
320GB Hard Drive
Ati graphics

So far the computer has been amazing. I previously owned an FS and an S series and I have to say this totally beats both of them. From pictures the black looked very gray, but in real life both the texture and the color of the computer flow well. I am entering college in less than a week so portability was important to me. A good battery life was also important and I guessed that ati was better to have than integrated graphics for my games : The sims 2, flight simulator, and maybe others i'd buy later. (Im not a huge gamer with the latest games)

Style: This computer is stylish and so far I have gotten many positive comments. I was also considering a macbook but this totally kills it IMO.

Performance: From the moment I turned this computer on I was suprised with the quick boot time of about 1 minute or so. However, I still have 88 processes running in the backround. So until I eliminate some I will keep having a 1 minute boot.

Vista: I have used Xp most of my life, but so far its been not a great relationship with me and vista. The clock keeps changing on me and when I set the cp to internet time it takes me back to aug 2007. (very annoying) The windows live one care promised 90 days of free use, but after 2 days it says that my trial has expired. Besides these two minute details vista is much better than say XP with SP1.

Screen: The screen is gorgeous when fully lit but viewing angles are not great. The screen has a lot of flex but not so much as to scare me. When there is a black backround you can see some LED leakage. The 13.3 " size is perfect, anything smaller would be unbearable IMO.

Battery: So far reports are fair. I have only been able to get 2.7-3.2hrs of battery life out of the standard battery running on Power saver w/ wireless on, cd drive on etc. In a few weeks i'll tell you how running a day of classes in college treats the battery life, and if it lasts enough. Btw, the battery does rattle, im searching for a fix.

Keyboard: I hate it. For some reason I make 6X as many typos on this keyboard than my regular desktop. Maybe the spacing btwn the keys? Who knows, but what I do know is that it will take me time to get use to the keys. Mouse buttons are loud but I barely use them anyway due to a wireless mouse. DVD drive feels flimsy, but asides from that the build is superb.

Any questions feel free to ask.

For SR owners:
1)Does your computer screen turn black for like 1 or 2 sec eveytime a Windows message comes up? or is my Computer defective?
2)How can I reduce the 88 processes. I think this is what is draining my battery.
3) Does your computer take a long time to turn on with the battery? I pressed the power button about 20 times before my PC actually started today.

thanks again

 

A windows message? You mean that security thing that Vista has? Yeah, every Vista computer I've had turns the screen flickery black for a couple of seconds... or longer if it's my friend's not-so-great HP that shouldn't even have Vista in the first place. I think it's the system's way of getting your attention, maybe.

Uhm, de-install programs that you know aren't useful to you, me, I reduced mine to 65 or so, I got rid of almost everything that came on it. I kept power management though.... And the switch mode thing, that's useful for me at least.

Mine always responds when I turn it on with the battery (It has been a few times now). Maybe because mine's the 129E/B?

 

My SR190 always turns on right away on battery..

The screen is supposed to dim/gray for the Vista security message, but it shouldn't be turning black.