New laptop advice |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Topic: New laptop advice Posted: April 22 2008 at 21:59 |
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My current desktop machine is old and getting slower and slower, so I think it is time to invest in a new machine.
However, I want to keep this machine running for the time being, so I am definitely thinking of purchasing a laptop, because I physically have space issues and cannot fit another desktop machine in. I have some preferences however and have found a machine that seems to fit my requirements and this is where I need advice: 1. It has to be an AMD chipset 2. I prefer nVidia GeForce over ATI Radeon 3. I am not yet ready for Vista, but want it installed on the machine, so I don't have to purchase a copy at a later juncture Now, is it possible to dual boot XP and Vista? I am pretty sure it is. However, how much will it affect the speed of the laptop? I have many applications and games that won't run on Vista apparently (some are older programmes that will never get updated or patched), so XP is the only real option for me here. I'm also fully aware that Vista is only on Service Pack 1 currently, so there are still many problems to iron out with it. Some of my software may run correctly in the future, or so I hope! If speed does not suffer too much with a dual boot, how difficult will it be to set-up? I preferably do not want to reformat the drive, so I am presuming an application like Partition Magic (or even Vista itself), will allow me to partition the drive without harming what's on the drive already? Because it is a laptop, I doubt I'll have installation CDs for everything, so I don't want to uninstall anything either. The machine I have been looking at has an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 chipset, so it's not too bad and wlll be quite fast. AMD have yet to release their quadcore chipset in laptop format. Any help on this would be much appreciated. Edited by James - April 22 2008 at 22:02 |
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ClemofNazareth
Special Collaborator Prog Folk Researcher Joined: August 17 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4659 |
Posted: April 22 2008 at 22:22 | |
Yes, you can dual boot XP and Vista. The setup isn't all that challenging, but you are going to need at least one of them already installed and the installation disk for the other. Might be a challenge if you received the operating system of your current PC with the PC itself, in which case the installation disk is probably a recovery disk that will only work on the same PC. You will have to create a partition for the other operating system.
One thing you may be able to do if you act quickly is to call the vendor you purchase the laptop from and request that they install an OS downgrade. Typically this would mean you would buy Vista but they would install XP for you. They should also send you the Vista disks. That would give you an XP machine that you could then partition and install Vista into that partition for your dual-boot solution (see here or lots of other forums for instructions). I say act fast though because if I'm not mistaken Microsoft won't allow their resellers to do this after June 2008. At least my company (which installs and ships the very configuration I just described) has been notified by Microsoft that we can only ship Vista after June. |
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"Peace is the only battle worth waging."
Albert Camus |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 22 2008 at 22:37 | |
Thanks, Clem.
Well my mother has XP on CD. I know it's not exactly legal to have more than one copy (with the same serial number) of it installed, but I don't want to have to purchase XP again. However, I don't have Vista (I'd like to avoid Vista all together, but as I said, if I get it now, at least I can play with it myself and wait for further upgrades to be released). Apparently it's not that bad an OS, but it's still in early stages and I want to use XP for a while longer yet. This machine I'm using has 2000 on it and I have the discs for that too somewhere. If I have the XP discs, is it possible to partition the drive and then install it as a dual booting machine? What will the performance be like, by the way? Oh, I missed a question earlier actually: If I decide eventually I don't need XP anymore, how difficult will it be to uninstall completely and restore it to one OS? I don't mind if it's partitioned still, it's sometimes easier to do that anyhow. I think the machine I was looking at has a 250 GB drive and I was going to purchase a LaCie 1 tb external drive anyhow. Edited by James - April 22 2008 at 22:37 |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 22 2008 at 23:03 | |
Something else also comes to mind:
I have a lot of software on this current machine that I would like to put on my new laptop. A lot of these I have on CD, but some are downloaded freeware software, which is also easy to sort out, because I can re-download them. However, I have a lot saved games and addons (especially for Firefox, where I'd like to keep my profile) and all sorts for things, so it'd be easier to transfer everything across in one go. I do realise that installing software is the way to go though, because then it enters into the registry properly and everything. Anyhow, is there a way of making my laptop talk to this PC, without using a network cable? This machine doesn't have bluetooth, unfortunately. I'll have to move a lot of my install and saved files over to my external drive otherwise and I'd rather not do that if I can, because it could take ages. As I said, I'm getting a new 1 tb external drive and I have 250 gb one already. My 250 gb drive has over 100 gb of files on that I'd actually prefer to put on my 1 tb drive in the future, but my current PC has very small drives, so I won't be able to move them to there (that's why they're on the external in the first place -- lack of space). The only option I can think of for now, is to copy (not move) my files from my 250 gb external over to my new laptop's 250 gb drive and then move them all to the 1 tb drive. After all, I only want to use my laptop drive for installed software really and keep the external for saved files and the actually install files themselves. Plus my music, of course. I don't think I can plug in two large drives together. My brother tried it on this machine once and it reset my computer. Memory sticks and large storage devices are fine though. Any ideas on how to transfer my files quickly? Edited by James - April 22 2008 at 23:06 |
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MikeEnRegalia
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 22 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 21022 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:02 | |
Why does it have to be AMD?
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:08 | |
Because I prefer AMD. All my machines, except my very old 386, have been AMD and they've never let me down, so I want to stick with them.
Besides, I've found a laptop that has an nVidea graphics card and an AMD chipset. I would wait for the quadcore AMD for laptops, but that could be a while yet. |
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KoS
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 17 2005 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 16310 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:17 | |
I recommend HP or Toshiba, but HP has a longer warranty. Just don't get the dv6000 series, because of a problem with their motherboards. had the dv6000 but it took two weeks to deliver my lappy and they won't touch your HDD. So your porn stash is safe.
I use USB transfer cables, it's easy to use and fast or slow depending, I left running overnight. http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Transfer-Cable-Windows-Vista/dp/B000JJPZW0 Edited by king of Siam - April 23 2008 at 02:24 |
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KoS
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 17 2005 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 16310 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:21 | |
If not, why bother getting quad-core. A dual-core is suitable for light editing and recording. sheesh, I need sleep. Too many typos. Edited by king of Siam - April 23 2008 at 02:25 |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:32 | |
Erm, I was looking at an HP DV6710ea: http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4XVZ&CategorySelectedId=11105&NavigationKey=11105,50220000,387320000,387670000,49340000,49010000&InMerch=1#specifications I'm presuming that is in the DV6000 series. Can you confirm if this doesn't have a dodgy motherboard? |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:33 | |
Maybe in the future, but not at the moment. I'm quite happy with a dualcore, besides, it's cheaper. |
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KoS
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 17 2005 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 16310 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:38 | |
^ that's the one my brother has, US version though. Mobo failed within a week, the guy at the shop says that he's was getting a lot of them back. But after the repairs, it has been a trooper.
Hey it's discontinued, what a surprise. Might try the 9700 series, a tad more expensive but you get a better graphics chip. Edited by king of Siam - April 23 2008 at 02:42 |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:42 | |
Oh I know that, but I wanted an AMD/GeForce laptop and that's one of the few available. The new Pavilion series doesn't have a replacement for it.
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KoS
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 17 2005 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 16310 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:44 | |
US version. BTW, most people say that Intel is better than AMD for laptops. Now that I think of it the problem with the 6000 series might be only related to AMD. Edited by king of Siam - April 23 2008 at 02:47 |
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Petrovsk Mizinski
Prog Reviewer Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:48 | |
Exactly, as I said earlier anyway. Intel has been making some good advances in Mobile CPU technology, AMD, well not so much lately as far I know.
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:49 | |
How about this one?
Seems to be a new model. It's got an ATI Radeon in it, but I can live with that, I'm sure it's compatible with most of my software. http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4JNK&CategorySelectedId=11105&NavigationKey=11105,50220000,387320000,50240 It's a 6000 series again though... I don't think the 8000 series do an AMD machine, not than I can find anyhow. |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:53 | |
Here we go, this is more like it. This is the one Siam was referring to and it has a GeForce card.
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4XW8&CategorySelectedId=11105&NavigationKey=11105,50220000,42880000,50240 Edited by James - April 23 2008 at 02:54 |
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Petrovsk Mizinski
Prog Reviewer Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:54 | |
http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/vpro/index.htm?iid=notebook_body+vpro
Check it dawg. Some low energy consumption.
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KoS
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 17 2005 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 16310 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:57 | |
http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Radeon-Xpress-X1250.6946.0.html
not so much of a graphics card. What's your price range? |
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VanderGraafKommandöh
Prog Reviewer Joined: July 04 2005 Location: Malaria Status: Offline Points: 89372 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:59 | |
Well, under £1000 (whatever that is in dollars) preferably. I also plan to get a 1 tb external drive as well.
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Petrovsk Mizinski
Prog Reviewer Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210 |
Posted: April 23 2008 at 02:59 | |
Lol, I think since it's just me, Siam and James, we might as well take this back to the Velvet Room.
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