Vista SP1 Questions.

I was looking through some forums here, and notice people discussing Vista, and SP1, and they where actually saying they liked it.

As I remember, Vista has alot of problems, and is a memory hog, and XP is better to play games on than Vista.

What is Vista SP1, and how is it different that normal Vista?

And is it worth getting it, because I plan on buying a new ALienware laptop, and was debating on whether to stick with XP, or go to Vista. (Yes, they offer the Vista SP1. And it is the Home Premium Edition.)

 

I have never had any problems with Vista on my Laptop. I have had Home Premium and the Ultimate version installed.

Vista is not a memory hog, at least not in the way most people think it is; it preloads a lot of data (like applications) into RAM so they can be launched faster... and this is true! Firefox launches faster on my vista laptop with slower hard drive than my XP desktop(!) When you start a memory hog application, like day a game, it will free up the used ram and can go as low as 19% of a 2GB ram system, meaning roughly 380 MB for OS use.

IMHO Vista (especially with SP1, although it doesn't change anything noticably...) plus, you get Directx10 capability (for what it's worth).

OK, theres a 2-3 fps difference between XP and Vista, but if you use the latest drivers (which you probably will, seeing you'll probably get a Geforce 9M series with an Alienware), you'll be more than fine. On top of that, it has the cool aero effects (cough...)

Hope this helps!

 

Yes this did help ALOT! I'm glad to hear a clean explanation about it.

And my Laptop comes with a 512MB Geforce 8700M GT Graphics card (Not sure if it is the 9M series you where talking about), but it does come with DirectX 10 capability.

I also plan on upgrading to 2GB or RAM, because I was told with only 1GB of RAM, it would be difficult to play games such as City of Heroes, WoW, or Oblivion.

 

I would even recommend more RAM, prices of DDR2 RAM are quite low right now, so you should see lots of free upgrades to 3 or 4 GB RAM.

The Geforce 9M series is just those card like 9500M GS, 9600M GT...

You'll have a 8M series card. But watch out, Nvidia admitted there's faults in those chips... I'm not sure the 8700M GT might be affected, but the 8400/8600 series are, and I'va had my share of trouble with them...

link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=270942

 

I'm not to worried about the Graphics card, that's why I buy a Warranty! Lol.

But IYO, for better gaming, should I upgrade my Intel Duo 1.66GHz cores to 2.0GHz, and have 1GB of RAM?

Or leave the processor, and upgrade to 2GB of RAM?

And cost wise when ordering it from them, upgrade the processor is $175 for 2.0GHz, and $150 for 2GB of RAM.

Or maybe I can leave them both with 1.66GHz, and 1GB of RAM and be fine? Such a dilemma, and so many people have so many different opinions about it, it always turns out 50/50.

 

You need 2gig for a decent Vista experience - that's the general consensus. However, you could go for the proc and upgrade your RAM yourself later. It's mega cheap from somewhere like Newegg, and upgrading shouldn't void your warranty.

 

Where are you buying this laptop? It sounds a bit too expensive for the RAM (and even proc) upgrades... :s

And which processor model numbers are we talking about? (like t7250, t2100...)?

 

I can buy 4GB's RAM for $70. I can buy 2GB's for $35. Do not spend $150 for 2GB.

What notebook is this you are looking at?

 

Here are the specs of the computer. I plan on purchasing it from Alienware's Website:

[1] Area-51® m9750

Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Includes AlienRespawn v1.0 Recovery Software!
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Video/Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® Series - 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT - Enables DirectX® 10 Graphics!
Chassis: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD - Stealth Black
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 120GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Sound Card : High-Definition Audio with surround sound

 

As I quoted this to powerpack, here are the specs for my computer, I plan an purchasing it from ALienware's Website:

[1] Area-51® m9750

Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Includes AlienRespawn v1.0 Recovery Software!
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Video/Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® Series - 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT - Enables DirectX® 10 Graphics!
Chassis: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD - Stealth Black
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 120GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Sound Card : High-Definition Audio with surround sound

 

When is the last time you've used Vista? Using it may answer your questions better than any one of us can.

 

Last time I used Vista was on my Acer laptop, but it had some problems with it i.e; Slow to load programs, freeze at startup sometimes, etc. But I partially think it was due to a faulty Harddrive, or something else wrong with it. I just basically wanted peoples advice on how good it is, and what the definition for Service Pack 1 meant.

 

And this is just an FYI to anyone still wanting to talk about upgrading the RAM or CPU. The games that I plan on playing are not High-End games, such as Crysis or Call of Duty 4. The main one's I will be wanting to play are City of Heroes, WoW, and Oblivion. Other than Oblivion, CoH and WoW are recommended 1.7GHz Processor, and 1GB of RAM.

Which makes me lean more twoard upgrading the RAM.

I just wish to be able to play these games (or other games) without the hatred of Lagg always being an issue.