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  • #1

    Giving Vista what it deserves...

    [Rant]

    My mom wanted a cheap notebook to use for displaying digital photos, surf a bit watch some dvds etc etc.

    At the Moment the choice fell on the HP 6715s (amd sempron 3600+, 1gb ram, 80gb hdd 15,4'' damn ultra reflective tft, lightscribe dvd-rw).

    After choosing language it took 2 bloody hours for HP's software to install itself

    And when it was done it was filled to the brim with crapp.

    After getting rid of NIS 2007 it went from sluggish to slow, after uninstalling everything that was not needed or trialware (both NIS and MSoffice2007 was installed as trialware )it became "responsive",atm it feels just about as fast as when I was running w2k on my AMD K6-2 400 mhz notebook

    If I was going to keep vista on it, I'd have to add more ram, the graphics card shews 128 and vista the rest

    But I'm going to format it and install XP on it

    [/Rant]

    The laptop bios is interesting, it has a built in HDD nuking program with levels ranging from quick sector zeroing to randomized heap erasing

    The "that damn mirror" tft screens are getting better or I'm getting used to em

    The Cpu fan is unfortunately of the "on/off" variety but is at full speed not a screamer.

    I'm also going to test latest ubuntu on it
    If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

    Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."
    Tags: None
  • #2
    BTW, I see that this HP is of "HP Compaq" business variety, not of "HP" consumer cheap looks variety. Looking a bit like Thinkpads actually...but does it feel solid, like them?
    Last edited by Nowhere; 26 October 2007, 17:08.

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    • #3
      If I pick it up by the front corners with the lid up it feels "empty" and it will yield a bit from left to right.

      This model has quite a lot of empty space inside (noticed that when I lifted the keyboard).

      The plastic is the "expensive notebook" feeling but not the super rubbersolid of the thinkpads.

      Compared to a thinkpad it would feel a bit "baloonish" i think.

      Tho I have to say that the last thinkpad we sold (can't remember the model) was of the spontaneous combustion variety
      If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

      Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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      • #4
        IMO nuking Vista is never a bad idea

        Might image the drive though just in case they ever get it right you can update it.

        I'll be looking for a cheap laptop for shooting scripts, production notes etc and want to keep it under $700 USD. I'm almost certain to go with Ubuntu 7.1 after purchase. Basically the old PIII-1Ghz Inspiron finally bit the dust.
        Dr. Mordrid
        ----------------------------
        An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

        I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

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        • #5
          Vista is Nuked

          The bios "hd sanitizing" software is of the fire and forget type, ie start it and forget about the notebook for a couple of days

          Even the "quick" vipe option was a 4 hour operation
          If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

          Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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          • #6
            @#¤!!!Quick!

            In XP it feels like I just got a Turbo uppgrade
            If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

            Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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            • #7
              They may look like thinkpads but HP POS sure as hell ain't a thinkpad.

              I have 1 HP and 2 Thinkpads.

              Once you tame the trackpad with disabling tap to click, swap Fn and CTRL it's bearable. Still, keyboard on HPs suck, they either lack trackpoint or HP implementation sucks, untill recently they only came with 2 mouse buttons, they lack all the useful Fn+F key combos. On thinkpads you just disable the trackpad and use the superior pointing device.

              The good part about HP is that there's a no code no activation HP XP CD that works genuine on all HP machines, whether they have the MS tax sticker or not. You need to disable native SATA in BIOS if you want to put XP on them.

              For HD nuking I recommend Knoppix CD, typing "knoppix 2" for CLI only, going straight into fdisk and nuking just partitions. Otherwise DBAN.


              What I dislike about other notebooks:
              Toshibas - they have really unique key organization on the keyboard. Which smartass came up with that.
              Acers - need I say more
              Apple - thin, hot, useless builtin pointing device

              Otherwise I see more XP machines coming out the door and even end customers wanting XP instead of Vista.
              Last edited by UtwigMU; 27 October 2007, 14:45.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Technoid View Post
                @#¤!!!Quick!

                In XP it feels like I just got a Turbo uppgrade

                goooofy. most of my computers run about as quick in Vista as they do in XP...

                of course... maybe it has something to do with the fact that I never run a manufactuers install. whyyy? because even after uninstalling software it is never the same....
                "And yet, after spending 20+ years trying to evolve the user interface into something better, what's the most powerful improvement Apple was able to make? They finally put a god damned shell back in." -jwz

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by UtwigMU View Post
                  Otherwise I see more XP machines coming out the door and even end customers wanting XP instead of Vista.
                  thats because the average "prosumer" is so full of crap that they should dress up as a toilet for halloween.

                  I've said it before and I'll say it again - the beloved XP that everyone loves so dearly was loathed for the first two years it was out. it wasn't until people got it on new computers and were forced to sit and "endure" it for any length of time that they decided "oh, this really isn't so bad".

                  people hate change and hate it even more when they are forced to change. this is one of those examples.

                  I watched salesmen repeatedly recommend Windows ME instead of Windows XP for quite a while. I listened to the wanna-be geek crowd decry Microsoft and XP for a variety of reasons - mostly personal. And the worst part is - you can easily show them where or how they are wrong. You can demonstrate it, readily, and they don't care or want to care. Because they are right, and microsoft is wrong and *everyone* has to listen to them.

                  sooo blah. it's a bullshit excuse. Vista isn't as bad as people want it to be, and really the average customer is going to suffer because of a fairly small vocal percentage of the population is so arrogant that they are forcing their opinions on everyone else.
                  "And yet, after spending 20+ years trying to evolve the user interface into something better, what's the most powerful improvement Apple was able to make? They finally put a god damned shell back in." -jwz

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                  • #10
                    Hmm, I did welcome XP quite enthusiastically (mostly on the grounds of "finally they're bringing NT to the masses..."). Not so much with Vista...yeah, it'll probably turn out to not be so bad as some people are saying...but where's the real improvemend in this case? And...XP is better, I think, in "OS shouldn't get in your way"

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                    • #11
                      I'm afraid that I've detested all Windows versions. If the software I want to use would work in MS-DOS, I'd still be working in it. At least with the early Windows, I still had the choice, but not for many years. I was forced to take the path 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, XP. Each new one has been an increase in bloatware with little improvement in functionality. Each new one has angered me as I have had to abandon either wanted applications or, worse, I've had to replace hardware, either because of the needs of the bloatware or because peripheral drivers were unavailable, and software.

                      I have tried Vista. Hardware drivers unavailable! Extra computer horsepower needed! Software doesn't work! This has been the most painful "up"grade to date. Not to mention that a 10+ Gb OS is just plain ridiculous and for what? Eye candy and almost no useful added new functionality. I have abandoned it and uninstalled it and am back to XP.
                      Brian (the devil incarnate)

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                      • #12
                        This month's PC Pro magazine has an in depth comparison of the two, rating each out of 10 for various obvious aspects such as performance, security, features, interface, etc etc. Overall Vista came out just ahead, mainly because it got 8 to XPs 3 for bundled applications. Not very good for something so long in the making!
                        FT.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by DGhost View Post
                          thats because the average "prosumer" is so full of crap that they should dress up as a toilet for halloween.

                          I've said it before and I'll say it again - the beloved XP that everyone loves so dearly was loathed for the first two years it was out. it wasn't until people got it on new computers and were forced to sit and "endure" it for any length of time that they decided "oh, this really isn't so bad".
                          The people who disliked xp at launch disliked XP RTM!

                          The XP they like now is XP sp2!

                          Those two are not same!


                          people hate change and hate it even more when they are forced to change. this is one of those examples.

                          I watched salesmen repeatedly recommend Windows ME instead of Windows XP for quite a while. I listened to the wanna-be geek crowd decry Microsoft and XP for a variety of reasons - mostly personal. And the worst part is - you can easily show them where or how they are wrong. You can demonstrate it, readily, and they don't care or want to care. Because they are right, and microsoft is wrong and *everyone* has to listen to them.

                          sooo blah. it's a bullshit excuse. Vista isn't as bad as people want it to be, and really the average customer is going to suffer because of a fairly small vocal percentage of the population is so arrogant that they are forcing their opinions on everyone else.
                          Sounds like you have already decided for us that Vista is as good as XP, and the worst part is - we can easily show where or how you are wrong. We can demonstrate it, readily, and you won't care or want to care.
                          If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

                          Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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                          • #14
                            Instead of simply accusing someone pf not being open to any argument, Technoid, you might try submit a reproducible demonstrative example.
                            Join MURCs Distributed Computing effort for Rosetta@Home and help fight Alzheimers, Cancer, Mad Cow disease and rising oil prices.
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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Umfriend View Post
                              Instead of simply accusing someone pf not being open to any argument,
                              So I am and DGhost is not?!?

                              Originally posted by Umfriend View Post
                              Technoid, you might try submit a reproducible demonstrative example.
                              Of that Xp rtm crashes more than xpsp2?

                              vista is slower than xp?
                              If there's artificial intelligence, there's bound to be some artificial stupidity.

                              Jeremy Clarkson "806 brake horsepower..and that on that limp wrist faerie liquid the Americans call petrol, if you run it on the more explosive jungle juice we have in Europe you'd be getting 850 brake horsepower..."

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