I use my laptop roughly 12 hours a day weekdays and 4 hours a day on weekends. I travel extensively and need to be connected at all times for internet and Vpn. I also tend to run several programs all at once. At the very least, I will be running MS Outlook, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and my company mainframe. I also regularly use Dreamweaver and Fireworks.
When my previous Sony gave up the ghost I went to Sony Store with the brief that I wanted a lightening fast machine that could run multiple applications, light (for travelling), with bluetooth etc. Against the advice of my IT Manager, the salesman pushed me into a machine running Vista Business saying this was the way forward and XP would soon be bo longer supported. I therefore purchased a Vaio VGN-SZ4XWN with following spec:
Processor model: Core Duo T7200. Clock speed: 2 GHz. RAM installed: 2048 MB. Wireless LAN: 802.11 a/b/g. Wireless WAN: HSDPA (up to 3.6Mbps, on ExpressCard). Hard drive size: 120 GB. Graphics processor: Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 / Intel GMA 950. Graphics RAM: 335 / 224 MB. Display diagonal size: 13.3 in
Since that fateful day I have had nothing but trouble. Problems include;
Computer is unstable and unreliable alsmost every day.
Computer is slow most of the time - takes up to 10 seconds to open a file or folder for instance.
Hard drive seems to be constantly struggling even when I am just browsing simple websites.
Whenever I copy or cut a file, I regularly have to click paste twice.
I regularly lose the drivers for my CD/DVD drive.
I have wasted literally days over the past year trying to connect to internet remotely either via Vodafone USB card or in wireless hotspots.
Windows explorer shuts down from time to time with no warning or trend.
When I download updates, many of them fail to download.
I regularly get no response when trying to open a program or more lately Task Manager.
Recently it takes up to 10 minutes to discover my wireless signal at work.
I recently installed Blackberry software and had to remove it as it literally brought my laptop to a standstill.
In Task Manager, the performance bar usually shows about 1.3Mb and my hard drive says 1.3GB free and total used - 103GB. Not sure how this is if my drive is supposed to be 120GB?
My IT Manager is telling me to revert back to XP. As I am close to the capacity of my hard drive, I was going to purchase a new machine however most major stores only now stock machines with Vista. Following advice would be greatly appreciated:
1. Are these common problems with Vista or have I just had bad luck on this machine?
2. Is it correct that most businesses use XP and if so, how come it is so hard to find an XP machines? I am aware that Windows 7 is due later in the year but I don't have the time or patience to test another new system on behalf of Microsoft.
3. If I do go for a new laptop, do I go for XP or Vista?
4. Salesman at PC World recommended Acer Travelmate 5730. He said XP could not cope with big spec laptops so I needn't waste money on anything over £600. Is this good advice?
Thanks in advance.
When my previous Sony gave up the ghost I went to Sony Store with the brief that I wanted a lightening fast machine that could run multiple applications, light (for travelling), with bluetooth etc. Against the advice of my IT Manager, the salesman pushed me into a machine running Vista Business saying this was the way forward and XP would soon be bo longer supported. I therefore purchased a Vaio VGN-SZ4XWN with following spec:
Processor model: Core Duo T7200. Clock speed: 2 GHz. RAM installed: 2048 MB. Wireless LAN: 802.11 a/b/g. Wireless WAN: HSDPA (up to 3.6Mbps, on ExpressCard). Hard drive size: 120 GB. Graphics processor: Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 / Intel GMA 950. Graphics RAM: 335 / 224 MB. Display diagonal size: 13.3 in
Since that fateful day I have had nothing but trouble. Problems include;
Computer is unstable and unreliable alsmost every day.
Computer is slow most of the time - takes up to 10 seconds to open a file or folder for instance.
Hard drive seems to be constantly struggling even when I am just browsing simple websites.
Whenever I copy or cut a file, I regularly have to click paste twice.
I regularly lose the drivers for my CD/DVD drive.
I have wasted literally days over the past year trying to connect to internet remotely either via Vodafone USB card or in wireless hotspots.
Windows explorer shuts down from time to time with no warning or trend.
When I download updates, many of them fail to download.
I regularly get no response when trying to open a program or more lately Task Manager.
Recently it takes up to 10 minutes to discover my wireless signal at work.
I recently installed Blackberry software and had to remove it as it literally brought my laptop to a standstill.
In Task Manager, the performance bar usually shows about 1.3Mb and my hard drive says 1.3GB free and total used - 103GB. Not sure how this is if my drive is supposed to be 120GB?
My IT Manager is telling me to revert back to XP. As I am close to the capacity of my hard drive, I was going to purchase a new machine however most major stores only now stock machines with Vista. Following advice would be greatly appreciated:
1. Are these common problems with Vista or have I just had bad luck on this machine?
2. Is it correct that most businesses use XP and if so, how come it is so hard to find an XP machines? I am aware that Windows 7 is due later in the year but I don't have the time or patience to test another new system on behalf of Microsoft.
3. If I do go for a new laptop, do I go for XP or Vista?
4. Salesman at PC World recommended Acer Travelmate 5730. He said XP could not cope with big spec laptops so I needn't waste money on anything over £600. Is this good advice?
Thanks in advance.
