A few questions

[Rusty]

First sorry for being gone so long i was in the Hospital and then i got a new toy that ihave not set up the net work yet
I ordered a hp dv9700 laptop and recieved it. But cannot decide if i still want to kep it. I got the T8300 2.4g processor and nvidia 8400 card 3 gig RAM and vista. I found yesterday in the event log SEVERAL errors starting from February. Supposedly this PC was built for me and not built until June. I am wondering if i recieved a used PC or maybe it was checked at the factory and the clock was just not set so the month was incorrect. But regardless i should not be getting errors this soon. Now i have not set it up yet (updated it and such ) since i wanted to keep it original until i decided to keep it.
Now at BEst Buy i see a HP onsale with the T8100 processor 256 video card and free printer. A bit slower but this one has a 12 cell battery which should last about 4 hours or so depending on what i use it for. With the one i have if there is a problem i have to mail it back in as opposed to just taking into Best Buy.
The day after i got the new Laptop i had a problem with the battery not charging to full capacity and restored it and did a few things the tech helped me with. Now these errors are popping up. Could be that i just need to update it??.
Also when running there are 70 processes running in vista. Does a laptop require more processes to run?? I kow there will be processes like for the bluetooth (which iam not sure i really need) and wireless network processes, and the finger print reader which i really can disable i don't really need it Since this is Vista i do not know what to shut down and what not to. I am thinking about running xp 32 bit on it but I do not know if that is the best thing or not. I did not buy any new programs since ihave almost everything i need on this machine. Nor do i know if the progrmas i have for XP 32 will even run on vista 64.
So far i cannot see any advantages to 64 over 32 except that to run 4 gig RAM will require 64 bits but right now just at idle i am using 41% of the memory which seems high. There are a few progrmas installed on the machine i like if i put xp on it i'll loose the programs right?? And being an HP it came with a built in restore partition so that would have to redone??

I am thinking i really bought too much machine. the HP tech told me that the CPU and GPU could be upgraded later since they were not integrated.So maybe i should downgrade for now. I really expected to fall inlove with the machine but it has seemed to be a hassle so far
Will there be a big loss in performance if i go to the 8100 processor from 2.4 to 2.1. And should i leave vista or go to XP i am just way more comfy with XP but can learn vista so far i have been very happy with 32 bit XP. To change i would have to purchase XP 64 or use the XP 32 i have here. SO far the 64 bit seems like a useless drain of resources. Just throw out your opinions for now . I may have a few more questions later. Since i have 21 days to return thsi machine lol!!!! THANKS

[Mark]

Now at BEst Buy i see a HP onsale with the T8100 processor 256 video card and free printer. A bit slower but this one has a 12 cell battery which should last about 4 hours or so depending on what i use it for. With the one i have if there is a problem i have to mail it back in as opposed to just taking into Best Buy.

well.. you can always buy a better replacement battery

Also when running there are 70 processes running in vista. Does a laptop require more processes to run??

yea it does.. but i would advise you to go to the control panel and uninstall all of the programs that you dont need or use because laptops always come with stuff that you dont really need and thats why some are over priced.

There are a few progrmas installed on the machine i like if i put xp on it i'll loose the programs right?? And being an HP it came with a built in restore partition so that would have to redone??

Yes you will lose some of the programs.. you can always download the programs BUT you may not be able to download all of them because some are only compatible with Vista

Erm.. i dont know about the restore partition bit

Will there be a big loss in performance if i go to the 8100 processor from 2.4 to 2.1. And should i leave vista or go to XP

not so much of a loss of performance.

You can downgrade from vista to xp if you want. The good thing about downgradeing is that you will have slightly more storage space because vista takes up more space than XP. But the bad thing is that you wont have some of the programs

Hope that helps :D

[brayden]

We have a new computer that came with tonnes of new software we downgraded to XP Professional and now it runs faster but we lost all the programs that came with it but it was worth it because there were some games we wanted but they weren't compatibal with vista as usual.
All we lost was Norton Internet Security 2008 Trial
Microsoft Works
and some internet games

[Raymond]

Mark has already answered most of what is in my mind. To me, I'd always go for Vista license so that I can use it in future. As for XP, there are "ways" to get it installed :P
As for the processor 2.4 to 2.1, it won't have much difference. But the price is usually far difference IF the 2.4 is the latest one.

[Rusty]

Thaks this helps alot One more question is there really an advantageto having the 64 bit OS. HP told me if i switched to 32 bit OS i would have better software compatability. But I noticed in the control panel there is an X86 control panel installed. Unfortunately i have no option to get xp over vista but do have the option to have 32 over 64. So now i dunno which is better since mostof the programs i'll be installing do not require 64 and were designed for 32. Seems like a waist of resources to run 64 unlesss the program requires it. Yes Vista does take up more RAM and more resources than XP. I noticed on the game Crysis that you needed more processor power and Ram to run it if you were using Vista.What i need to decode now is whether to keep the 64 or go with 32 bit OS. I have a retail version of XP 32 but none of 64 would prefer XP 64 over vista 64. Vista just seems like bloat ware. Any opinions on 32 over 64 bit OS

[itsonfire]

there isn't much advantage with having 64bit system, most of the time you'll be hassling with programs that don't support it. i would stick with the machine you have, only with 32bit. and if you need xp to run a small program you can use Virtual PC.

[Lenogris]

im perty sure all the stuff that works of 32 works with 64 but the stuff that works on 64 wont work on 32 this is all pending u have a 64mbit processor
i would say return and go with one at bestbuy and put xp on it and it will run much faster than other one with vista

[Rusty]

there isn't much advantage with having 64bit system, most of the time you'll be hassling with programs that don't support it. i would stick with the machine you have, only with 32bit. and if you need xp to run a small program you can use Virtual PC.

What is Virtual PC. Yeah the 64 bit has a driver to run the older programs much like XP could run programs in Win 98, 95 and such . None of the games or programs i have seen yet require the 64 bit OS. In Fact the operator at customer support told me that if i installed vista 32 i would have better compatability. Really to me the whole vista thing is just to make money for Micro Suck. Its damn near impossible to find a laptop with xp installed. They are cramming it down our throats. And the only thing i have seen that really justifies going 64 bit is that to upgrade to 4 gig RAM you need the 64 OS.


Lenogris you arre probably right i have retuned this one due to malfunctions. Still I cannot figure out how a machine built for me this month had errors in the log from February. I am going to get one that is not messing up and try it out and decide. I'll still have 21 days. I looked at the MAc air books those ar nice lil machines. Super light but dunno how compatable Leopard or whatever OS Mac is using now is with progrmas these days.I just have almost all the software i need and hate to go rebuy it. I spenat alot of time and hard work "ACQUIRING" this software :D. My biggest complaint on this laptop is the weight but i did get a 17 in monitor and a 2.4 g processor and 250g HD so there is alot of engine weight in the thing. But Lenogris i think you are probably right I probably will end up buy one from BB although the salesman at BB told me to keep it that there was no way i could get that much machine for what i paid for it, If i bought retail. Thanks for the input guys. Its typical as soon as i buy one i find one i like better or at a better price. THANKS again and iam sure i'll have more questions.