Windows XP/ Vista & Memory

spen666

I have an insurance claim re a laptop that was stolen.

I have been offered a laptop with the following spec:-

Intel Celeron Processor C550 (2.0GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache) Genuine Windows (R) Vista Home Basic 1 GB Memory 80 GB Hard Drive

to replace a laptop with the following spec: -

1.8GHz processor (AMD I think), Windows XP, 1GB RAM memory 80GB Hard drive

I say that a laptop with 1GB RAM memory running XP would be faster than laptop with 1GB RAM running Vista - not withstanding the slightly faster chip speed

Am I right- and can anyone point me to anything to support my argument

beatsystem

You are basically correct,I would avoid vista at this time lots of problems depending on what you running.Try and get hold of a machine running XP if you can, may use your local computer shop rather than one of the chains eg PC World

spen666

beatsystem wrote:

You are basically correct,I would avoid vista at this time lots of problems depending on what you running.Try and get hold of a machine running XP if you can, may use your local computer shop rather than one of the chains eg PC World

Problem I have is they are going to give me vouchers relating to the cost of replacement- vouchers for PC World/ Currys


anything to back up what you say? I want to back up my argument as I think this is going to result in litigation

redddraggon

I'd say the replacement laptop will not be as good though, less free HD space due to Vista taking up far more than XP, Vista is a little more memory intensive than XP. The Celeron processor is probably rubbish compared to your AMD one (without knowing which one I couldn't say decisively)

Home Basic is some third world piece of software anyway, you don't get the advantages you get with "proper Vista", better off sticking with the more smoothly running XP.

There's nothing at all wrong with proper Vista though, I've been running it since the beginning and not had one problem.

Keithp88

Take the vouchers, and see if they are redeemable on the website of PC World. If so go to the refurbished stuff, there is some decent gear on there if you are patient enough to go through the lists

Failing that take them along to PC World and add a few quid to upgrade to 2GB of RAM and vista will run just fine. I have a feeling that you can no longer get XP on new laptops as Microsoft have or are about to stop supplying it as an OEM product.

keef66

You need Vista Home Premium and 2GB ram to run it.
You won't get Win XP out of the likes of PC World now (although some online retailers still offer it as an option)

Browse the forums at www.pcadvisor.co.uk if it's evidence you're looking for

cee

Surely if you are getting a voucher, you can choose which laptop to buy? Or can it only be used for the one you have been offered.

There are some decent deals on the go at the moment and MS has extended the shipping for XP, so it can still be purchased OEM on most brands of computer.

I suppose the simple answer to your question, is that the laptop sounds a similar spec, so the laptop will perform similarly, based on same software loaded. Clearly, they have offered different software, which will have an effect on the performance

Just to ram in a cycling analogy, if the operating system is the drivetrain, the power at the cranks will be the same, whilst the power to the wheels would be less

as reddraggon says, vista might take up a bit more space on your system. As far as the OS goes, what version of XP did you have? There were four (to my knowledge) versions..XP Home, XP OEM, XP Corporate, and XP Pro. If you had the pro version, I would push for a like for like OS version and get at least home premium (most folks don't need the extra bits in Ultimate, like bitlocker and remotedesktop, ts etc)

In general, single core AMD procesors run faster than the single core Intel ones, so for instance the AMD 2200+ is a 1.8ghz chip that crunches just as fast as the intel 2.2Ghz chip...you could argue that the processor is inferior, although the Celeron M series were designed specifically for Laptops and Mobile devices, so they run more efficiently (mostly to do with how much they heat up and how you get rid of that heat.)

An argument that might be easier to win is that they have offered you a £300 (basic) laptop. Is that equivalent to what you paid for your laptop (I would wager not).

But then again spen.....aren't you a lawyer.....it's always gonna end up in litigation

cee

Also, agree with reddraggon.....

All these naysayers who talk about the issues with Vista are generally wrong. Yes there are some differences in the way ot works, and there were some device driver issues in the beginning, but many device manufacturers have sorted this out now and Vista drivers are available for most of the kit.

I run two machines on Vista (one business laptop and one mediacentre), before it was publicly released (my job allows me access to this) and its fine. For those who say i could be biased, I also run a Mac for my music recording/editing, a linux box for a little eeePC, and a linux NAS server. Appropriate tools and all that

It can be run on 1gb of RAM quite happily, but is better with 2gb!

redddraggon

cee wrote:

It can be run on 1gb of RAM quite happily, but is better with 2gb!

And it's even better with 4GB

hammerite

I was in PC World last week while waiting to be seen to I overheard a conversation. Apparently a lot of laptop manufacturers are starting to ship a version of Vista that can be downgraded to XP (i.e. this is built in to the version). This is due to the fact a lot of businesses haven't yet moved over to Vista as their OS standard.

This was in the PC World business department though, not sure if it would be the case for standard retail laptops.

I use Vista at home and have no problems with it. More annoying is the other system management software that was pre-installed by the manufacturer. It really slowed the machine down until I blocked it.

robbarker

Vista in 1 GB is fairly painful, even if you turn the eye candy off. Look on the bright side - if you have to take their offer you can always load Ubuntu linux.

vermooten

My laptop's got a meagre 1.67GHz processor but a whopping 3Gb of RAM and runs Vista - and I'm the only person in the universe who thinks Vista is great. Runs Premiere and iTunes atthe same time, no probs - and with all the sparkly eye candy swicthed on!

spen666

cee wrote:

Surely if you are getting a voucher, you can choose which laptop to buy? Or can it only be used for the one you have been offered.

....

I'm arguing re the value of the vouchers - ie I want enough to get a PC that works at a decent speed

spen666

thanks everyone- some useful information there