Vaio TX Users and Vista Feedback

I was wondering if there were many Vaio TX users out there running Vista Ultimate or the Business version? I was thinking of loading it on my new TX850 P/B but I am concerned that the hardware horse power in not enough to handle it.

Any feedback on Vista and Vaio TX appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

-rhd

 

Sorry that I don't own a TX with Vista, but I have heard of it definately being slower than with XP.

 

I installed Vista on my TX3HP/W about a week ago, using the upgrade discs supplied by Sony.

The machine takes quite a long time to boot up and shut down. But general use of the machine is not any slower than it used to be with XP. However, I don't use the machine for intensive programs - mainly firefox, thunderbird, photoshop and microsoft office.

 

Yup. I've Vista Ultimate on the TX3 - all very nice - does Glass, but this does slow it down a bit. I've turned Glass off and have 1.5Gb RAM and it works very nicely - the problem with the TX3 is the slow disk - the OS really can't help there!!

 

Hi,

I'm also keen to find this out, and can better answer your question next week when I've had a chance to play around with my TX5.

I went with the 1GB version and ordered another 1GB of ram to replace one of the 512's included. (cost me €60)
I've also just ordered a SanDisk4GB pro duo Extreme III, to use as a ready-boost drive This was a bit pricey at €100, but should give improvement to the start-up and frequently used applications. FYI: it's currently the closest you can get to the magical 20MB/s (accross the whole of the available memory) for the ready-boost feature. (18MB/s read and write)

I've been reading mixed opinions (from this forum) about the performance of the GMA950 with Vista Aero, but I guess we're looking at 4th Quarter for the GMA 3000 in Santa Rosa

I will try to reply to this thread again next week to give a balanced opinion of Aero (with the base 1GB of RAM and again with 1.5GB)
after I've had time to get my hands dirty with my TX5 (I'm on a stag weekend at the moment - I'll cause a riot if the best man catches me with my head stuck in a notebook!)

BR,
Withnail.

 

Interesting thread, exactly what I've been looking for - I have the first TX (TX1HP in the UK) which has the Pentium-m 1.1Ghz with 768MB ram (popped a spare 256MB stick in the spare slot). It's still crawling along on its original XP Pro install as I've found rebuilding Sony's in the past troublesome.

Anyway, I need to get experience with Vista for work and I don't want to upgrade my performance machines as Vista would be more of an issue for them. So the TX would seem a good choice, it's simply used for internet browsing DVD playback etc. nothing intensive. I'm not bothered about running Aero although I can pick up a 1GB stick of ram of cheap to boost performance.

Obviously my machine is slower and older than the ones mentioned here, still worth a go? As long as I image the XP partition first I guess I can always return to it if there's problems.

John

 

John,

I have a UK model TX3HP/W - 1.1GHz U1300 with 1.5gb ram (i put an extra 1gb in the spare slot) and Vista runs quite nicely, with Aero. As I mentioned above in my previous post, the bootup and shutdown times are quite long, but general use is comparable with XP.

 

having just bought a tx5 with vista business preinstalled i have been pleasantly surpised at how usable it is. while it doesn't really fly and games are pretty much out of the question, it excels as an ultra portable and all normal work functions (mail, spreadsheets etc) work smoothely.

you might have problems trying to run xp on these machines as i have heard that there are no machine specific xp drivers available. i have also heard that unless you want to manipulate large graphics files for instance, then forking out for more memory may not reslt in obvious performance increases if you buy the 1gb version - though for £30 i'll probably give it a go.

if you're not in a hurry there's a new duo version out later in the summer which will probably be worth waiting for.

 

Are the bootup/shutdown times worse than XP? I've read some accounts on Vista in general that it's faster, my XP install is still the original one so it's incredibly slow on bootup/shutdown (up to ten or fifteen minutes), I don't think it can get any worse!

I'm stuffed for Aero as I don't think it works on the older 915 chipset.

John

 

If your bootup/shutdown is taking 10, 15 minutes, the notebook probably isn't the issue, but a Windows related issue.

 

Well yes, as I said already it's on the original Sony install which is a complete mess, Sony have definitely beaten Dell in installing as much unnecessary software as possible.

John

 

The bootup/shutdown is a bit longer than for XP, but my boot with XP never used to be anywhere near 10 minutes, i never timed it but i don't think it was more than a minute or two. Vista is longer than that, but not too long - the desktop doesn't take too long to appear, but the hard drive light keeps flashing for quite a lot longer than XP did, so the machine is a bit sluggish for a couple of minutes after boot. I hope that helps!

 

I am confused about how Vista Business works with TX5. There are so many contradictory experiences from many users. The slowness issue with booting is important. But does not Vista have a Stand By option which starts the TX5 very quickly?! And what about all the other complaints in this thread?

I would like to have some more reliable information on this subject. Another question: Is TX3 with XP to be preferred?

MA

 

And one more thing: What about the fan noise in TX5 compared to TX3?

 

Hi All,

Arrived back home last night, and spent the night installing Vista (1st boot stuff) and uninstalling all the bloat - boy, there's stacks in there!

First impressions:
-Mind numbingly slow at times (compared to a 3 year old TR2 running XP)
-Turning the transparancy off improves the latency in navigation
-Upgrading RAM (from 1 to 1.5GB) helped marginally

Unfortunately, my Extreme III pro duo order was cancelled my my vendor, so I cannot comment on any help ready-boost would bring. I will try an Ultra II SD card when I get the chance.


@ SonyWhore - I have no keayboard hump, could it be related to the TXNs WWAN module!?

Is anyone else observing a temperamental keyboard? I'm contantly having to retype due to 'missing' letters, Getting ver annoying..

 

Withnail wrote: "Is anyone else observing a temperamental keyboard? I'm contantly having to retype due to 'missing' letters, Getting ver annoying.."

My own experience with my TX1 is that especially the keys above the space key (e.g. "b" and "n" and the space key itself occasionally does not work properly, resulting in "missing" letters. Irritating... Is this a problem for others TX1 users? And what about TX3 and TX5?

 

Hmm, I don't have problems at all with the TX's keyboard, no missing letters or anything. If there is a hump, I haven't noticed it until you guys have told me.

 

With regards to 'the hump'
I was in several stores in the UK and in Germany before I bought my TX5 looking for this very thing, and have to say there was nothing wrong with them, or with my keyboard..

This could be a US phenomenom? It could be due to the WWAN module.
- I know it might not have the WWAN component installed, but pehaps they use a different chassis for the US market?
WWAN is not an option for European TX's

Just a thought.

BR,
Withnail

 

The Vaio TXs in North America that have the Sprint EVDO WWAN, called the TXNs, are slightly thicker and heavier than all other TXs.