[Goldenballz]

Hi

I am currently learning and need a laptop. Don't want a Macbook Pro as I need windows for other work I do. Please could you give me opinions on my current thinking of the Sony Vaio FW21W. Unfortunately it comes with Vista and my research tells me it would be rather painful to downgrade to XP. Given that is this an ok combo to work with.

Thanks

[ElanMan]

I wouldn't advise anybody to go for Vista if they had a choice...
As for Vaios in general, I've had mine for approx 2 years and the keyboard is excellent, by far the best keyboard I've used on a laptop.
Overall a great laptop and one of the lesser specs too.
When you say you need Windows for other work, what other work is this?
Depending on what you need Windows for, it might be a good idea to buy the laptop anyway and install a linux distro on it instead.
For a linux newb, Mint 11 might be the easiest to get going with.
This is assuming that you don't need Windows for things like Photoshop, Dreamweaver et al.
Linux is a great alternative for a web dev

[Renaissance-Design]

Stuff downgrading to XP, upgrading to 7 is where it's at. You really don't want to be running an 8 year old OS with limited support. Also, as that model has 4GB of RAM you'd need to use a 64-bit copy of XP in order to get the best from it, and good luck finding drivers for anything. Upgrade to 7; you can use the Vista drivers if you can't find a Win7-specific one.

Agree on the Vaio keyboards, they're nearly as nice as mine (Dell Adamo).

This post has been edited by Renaissance-Design: 25 August 2011 - 08:01 PM

[Goldenballz]

Thanks for the posts guys.

At the moment I'm using Rookie tools Flash and Dreamweaver with some HTML coding

Once I'm happy with the WYSIWYG approach then I intend going more technical with courses on
Dynamic HTML, XHMTL, XML and Cascading Style Sheets
JavaScript and Java 2
Visual C#
Websphere
PHP and MSQL

I'm also an SAP ABAP programmer and haven't heard of anyone running the SAP Gui on anything other than Windows.
If I buy the machine which seems to have the thumbs up from you guys, is it likely to be a headache to install Windows 7. I take it I would have to reinstall drivers etc. Sorry if I sound like a total dipstick. My prior IT experience extends to 10 years clicking on the SAP Gui and using MS Office apps.

[ElanMan]

In that case, I'd probably do as Renaissance-Design suggested and upgrade to Win 7. However, don't know the upgrade costs; might be cheaper to buy a laptop with Win 7 pre-installed?

[Goldenballz]

I have the option of a Dell XPS M1710 with Win 7 Professional installed. Would this be a better option for what I want to do.

PS: Enjoy your beer Chris. I bought you one for Outstanding Contribution to forum signature comedy.

[Spitfire]

I've never understood the big aversion to Vista. Fair enough it had a few teething issues on the business side but as an OS for a home PC it seemed quite good in my opinion. In all honesty, I find Vista on my laptop a lot more user friendly than Win 7 on my desktop.

[Renaissance-Design]

 Goldenballz, on 25 August 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

I have the option of a Dell XPS M1710 with Win 7 Professional installed. Would this be a better option for what I want to do.

PS: Enjoy your beer Chris. I bought you one for Outstanding Contribution to forum signature comedy.

Battery life might be an issue, and it's quite a heavy chunk of machine, but a nice high-res screen. I think the Vaio's a nicer machine aesthetically and with the XPS you're shelling out for more graphics power than you need (although not enough to game at that resolution) - if the Vaio looks to be cheaper, grab that and a copy of OEM Win7.

This post has been edited by Renaissance-Design: 25 August 2011 - 09:21 PM

[ElanMan]

 Spitfire, on 25 August 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

I've never understood the big aversion to Vista. Fair enough it had a few teething issues on the business side but as an OS for a home PC it seemed quite good in my opinion. In all honesty, I find Vista on my laptop a lot more user friendly than Win 7 on my desktop.

That surprises me tbh. I've used vista on several laptops/desktops and it has always sucked whereas Win 7 was like a breath of fresh air.
Then again, I'm not a regular Windows user so perhaps not in the best place to judge.

@OP Just weigh up the cost. Dell with Win 7 pre-installed or vaio with vista and possible upgrade. I'm sure either laptop will be adequate for what you want (but vaios do have great keyboards )

[Goldenballz]

Thanks. I've emailed the seller to find out if he's willing to do a deal with Windows 7. I'm not sure he will as he told me he wasn't sure if downgrading to XP Pro would be technically feasible. I do have a contact who does this kind of thing for a living so I guess I could ask him to do the upgrade. He isn't a web developer though so I'm a little concerned he might not set it up right. Thanks for all the feedback guys. Much appreciated. I'll report back tomorrow when I've got it sorted.

[zed]

With WIN7 Professional you can run XP within Windows Virtual PC.

[MikeChipshop]

Spitfire, on 25 August 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

I've never understood the big aversion to Vista. Fair enough it had a few teething issues on the business side but as an OS for a home PC it seemed quite good in my opinion. In all honesty, I find Vista on my laptop a lot more user friendly than Win 7 on my desktop.

Gotta say i agree.
To many people listening to the media bulls**t machine and not actually getting down and trying it.

Yes Vista is definitely no Win 7 (7 is a fine piece of work) but it still poo's all over XP, unless you're producing music with an older sound card but that's not Vista's fault, it's the fault of crappy companies not supporting the latest systems.

To the OP. If you can upgrade to 7 then do so otherwise never downgrade to XP.

[Goldenballz]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I am in a complete quandry . I've been looking at the Dell XPS range but seriously put off by reports of them heating up like Copacabana Beach when the graphics card comes under strain,, especially gaming. I'm also looking at the Sony Vaio F series but they tend to come with Vista preconfigured and don't lend themselves easily to OS upgrade. Was wondering if there are any other machines in my budget that will do the job, run on Windows 7 and not flake out on me. My budget is £600 for a refurb or good used model.
Cheers

This post has been edited by Goldenballz: 26 August 2011 - 04:40 PM

[Renaissance-Design]

Don't bother trying to game on a laptop - laptop graphics cards are always underpowered for their screens, it's pointless.

If you want portability (because you already have a desktop), try to score a Dell Adamo (none on Ebay at the moment) or HP Envy 13. If you're looking for more of a desktop replacement, try something like a Dell Studio 17. HP Envy 17's a better machine, but that's a little over the top end of your budget.

[porkchops]

I agree with what's been said. My thoughts:

• Laptops suck for gaming. You always pay nearly twice or three times as much as you would for a comparable desktop.
  
• Windows 7 is the best version of windows available. I don't see any reason to use XP over it, especially with the built-in virtual machine on W7 Pro.
  
• People have had solid laptop recommendations. I used to repair PCs and I've found that Sony and Dell make solid machines (though you should avoid Dell's entry level stuff). Toshiba and Gateway and Acer and Asus are also decent. I don't particularly care for HP or Compaq (and, HP is selling off their pc business so your support would be interesting going forward).
  
• If you want the best of both worlds, get a laptop that can handle what you want for productivity stuff and buy a cheap deskop for gaming. It's almost always more cost effective than getting a laptop for both purposes.

[Goldenballz]

Hi Guys

Just to end this thread, I ended up buying a new Samsung RV511 for £495. Happy days!
Thanks to the guys who posted on this thread.

Intel® Core™ i5-480M Dual Core (2.66 GHz, 3MB Cache, with Intel Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz)
15.6" (Samsung SuperBright Gloss LED TFT, 1366 x 768 HD)
Windows 7 Home Premium
4GB (DDR3)
500GB
DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi)
Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® 315M with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)
Wireless (802.11b/g/n Wireless)
10/100/1000 Gigabit Fast Ethernet
Integrated Webcam
Integrated Webcam with Microphone
4-in-1 card reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD)
3x USB 2.0 ports
Bluetooth 3.0