1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

Hi,

I'm buying a new laptop that I intend to use to play poker, browse the internet and do some word document type stuff. I've heard bad things about Vista running with less than 2Gb of RAM. Could anyone have a look at the following specifications and tell me what they think?

Acer Aspire 9301AWSMi - Turion 64 mobile technology MK-36 - RAM : 1 GB - HD : 120 GB - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - 17" Widescreen TFT 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ )


Processor
Processor AMD Turion 64 mobile technology MK-36
64-bit Computing Yes
Chipset Type NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100
Cache Memory
Type L2 Cache
RAM
Installed Size 1 GB / 4 GB (max)
Technology DDR II SDRAM
Configuration Features 2 x 512 MB
Storage Controller
Type IDE
Storage
Hard Drive 120 GB
Optical Storage
Type DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM - integrated
Card Reader
Type 5 in 1 card reader
Supported Flash Memory Cards SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card
Display
Display Type 17" TFT active matrix
Max Resolution 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ )
Widescreen Display Yes
Colour support 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Features CrystalBrite
Video
Graphics Processor / Vendor NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100
Video Memory Shared Video Memory (UMA)
Max Allocated RAM Size 128 MB
Audio
Audio Output Sound card
Compliant Standards Sound Blaster Pro, High Definition Audio
Audio Input Microphone
Notebook Camera
Camera Type Integrated
Sensor Resolution 0.3 Megapixel
Image Sensor Type CMOS
Camera Features 225 degree rotation
Input Device(s)
Type Keyboard, touchpad, 4-way scroll button
Telecom
Modem Fax / modem
Max Transfer Rate 56 Kbps
Protocols & Specifications ITU V.92
Features Wake on Ring
Networking
Networking Network adapter
Wireless LAN Supported Yes
Wireless NIC Acer InviLink 802.11b/g
Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Features Acer SignalUp
Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free) 2 ( 0 ) x memory ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x PC Card - type II
Interfaces 4 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Type A ¦ 1 x display / video - S-video output ¦ 1 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ¦ 1 x modem - phone line - RJ-11 ¦ 1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45 ¦ 1 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-In - mini-phone 3.5mm ¦ 1 x audio - SPDIF output/headphones
Miscellaneous
Features Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately), administrator password, system password, wake on LAN
Compliant Standards ACPI 2.0
Power
Power Device External
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery
Technology 6-cell Lithium Ion
Installed Qty 1
Run Time (Up To) 2.5 hour(s)
Operating System / Software
OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Software Norton AntiVirus, Acer Launch Manager, N
TI CD-Maker, CyberLink PowerProducer, Acer GridVista, Acer Arcade, Adobe Reader, Acer Empowering Technology

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_...54/version.asp

Thanks.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

The bigger problem is going to be that it uses shared memory for the video card. If you can afford it upgrade to a video card that doesn't share system memory. In general though, more memory is better.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

Thanks for that Kerowo. If you had to pick between the specifications I posted above and the following which would you go for? Considering I can't afford anything particularly flashy, it seems that avoiding Vista might be sensible.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/MSI_L.../version-1.asp



# Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 - 1.6GHz (x2), up to 1.6GHz FSB, 2x256KB L2 Cache
# RAM: 1024MB DDR2-533MHz - Low Cost Double Memory Offer - Call For Details!
# Hard Drive: 100GB Serial ATA 5400rpm
# Screen: 17" Widescreen TFT
# Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi
# Graphics: nVidia GeForce 6100
# Wireless LAN: 802.11b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
# Battery Life (Depending on Use): 3 hrs
# Warranty: 2 Year
# Operating System: Windows XP Media Center Edition
# Windows Vista Compatible
# Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000
# 5-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/XD/MS/MS Pro)
# Free Mouse and Carry Case
# Bluetooth Enabled

Thanks very much.

VPU

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

They both have the same video card, looking at the Nvidia site it looks like it can run all the bells and whistles on Vista and for your price range I'd be surprised if you were going to find a non-integrated video card. The Acer has a bigger hard drive which would push me towards it. The first upgrade you can afford would be more memory though.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

Looks very similar specs to my Dell laptop with Vista. I can 4-table a cryptologic site with PT and a HUD running with no signs of slowdown or drive thrashing, and crypto sites used to kill my old XP based machine!

Mat

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

Will it work? yes. But 2gb is 10000x better.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
The bigger problem is going to be that it uses shared memory for the video card. If you can afford it upgrade to a video card that doesn't share system memory. In general though, more memory is better.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm buying a new laptop that I intend to use to play poker, browse the internet and do some word document type stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

In your situation, more RAM would help a lot more and probably be cheaper than a better graphics adapter.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Will it work? yes. But 2gb is 10000x better.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would recommend waiting for the first service pack. Mainly for application compatibility.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

why are you getting that piece of crap AMD processor? Get a core2.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
why are you getting that piece of crap AMD processor? Get a core2.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh dear God. Let's not start this. You know both of them are fine for everyday use.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just got my new computer a few weeks ago with vista and I had alot of problems with programs 4-5 errors/etc now im only down too 1 as drivers and window's updates have fixed them. AND LOVE VISTA People are really smashing how bad vista is but nothing is really that bad as it seems.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

I'll chime in....I've got a dual boot XP and Vista laptop and I love Vista, so much so I've abandoned XP except when I just have to boot it up for something.(about once a week at most)

I just ordered one of my customers a new budget Dell laptop with Vista on it. For $150 more they could have gotten twice the laptop but honestly they didn't need or want the extras that I wouldn't go without. They got a good laptop that will do all they want/need to do and the price was right, $764 shipped + tax because we are in Texas. Here are the basic specs....

Inspiron 1501
AMD Turion 64 x 2 TL-50 (1.6GHz/512KB)
15.4 inch Wide-screen WXGA Display
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
ATI RADEON Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
8X DVD+/-RW Drive for Inspiron1501
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
MS WORKS 8.5
3 year Extended Warranty Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response


I've got that laptop sitting right next to my Dell Insprion 6400 with:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83 GHz
2GB RAM
128MB ATI video card
160GB hard drive
Vista Home Premium
3 yr ext. warranty

I could have bought my exact laptop for him last week for $150 more. The comparison of them side by side? Honestly, mine blows his away. I think it's the 2 GB of RAM more than anything. However, my customer's laptop is still plenty fast for basic web surfing, email, music, photos and some poker. However, the extra RAM would make a ton of difference in my opinion.

If 2 GB is out of your price range then don't worry about it. The prices on RAM drop every day and you can upgrade down the road if you think you need it. Despite all the rumors, Vista runs just fine on 1 GB of RAM, just like XP runs fine with 512 MB of RAM. At the same time, 1 GB of RAM is very noticeable in XP, just like 2 GB is very noticeable in Vista.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would recommend waiting for the first service pack. Mainly for application compatibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

A-fracking-men.

I'm about to "upgrade" my "Overkill" Vista machine to XP x64 because there are simply too many driver incompatibilities. I'll run Vista underf VMWare if I need to test something under it. I can't run Vista Ultimate 64-bit because there are no drivers for my hard drive controller or other hardware, and I need 64-bit because I have 4 GB RAM and my 768 MB graphics card steals 1.5 GB of upper RAM from mappable memory due to the 4 GB limitation of 32-bit systems.

Early adoption SUCKS.

Stick with XP for now unless you have a very good reason to shift, and MAYBE consider switching when Vista SP1 comes out in 2009.

Jester

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
when Vista SP1 comes out in 2009.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll put 90% of my roll on the under, please.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would recommend waiting for the first service pack. Mainly for application compatibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

A-fracking-men.

I'm about to "upgrade" my "Overkill" Vista machine to XP x64 because there are simply too many driver incompatibilities. I'll run Vista underf VMWare if I need to test something under it. I can't run Vista Ultimate 64-bit because there are no drivers for my hard drive controller or other hardware, and I need 64-bit because I have 4 GB RAM and my 768 MB graphics card steals 1.5 GB of upper RAM from mappable memory due to the 4 GB limitation of 32-bit systems.

Early adoption SUCKS.

Stick with XP for now unless you have a very good reason to shift, and MAYBE consider switching when Vista SP1 comes out in 2009.

Jester

[/ QUOTE ]

Or since OP isn't going to be running hardware that is probably being used by less than 15% of all users he could just get Vista and be fine.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
is vista worth upgrading to now? or is it still bad?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would recommend waiting for the first service pack. Mainly for application compatibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

A-fracking-men.

I'm about to "upgrade" my "Overkill" Vista machine to XP x64 because there are simply too many driver incompatibilities. I'll run Vista underf VMWare if I need to test something under it. I can't run Vista Ultimate 64-bit because there are no drivers for my hard drive controller or other hardware, and I need 64-bit because I have 4 GB RAM and my 768 MB graphics card steals 1.5 GB of upper RAM from mappable memory due to the 4 GB limitation of 32-bit systems.

Early adoption SUCKS.

Stick with XP for now unless you have a very good reason to shift, and MAYBE consider switching when Vista SP1 comes out in 2009.

Jester

[/ QUOTE ]

Or since OP isn't going to be running hardware that is probably being used by less than 15% of all users he could just get Vista and be fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are still driver problems with many of the more popular video cards from ATI and Nvidia. It all depends on your exact setup. That's why Microsoft made such a detailed Vista compatibility test. Everyone should run that before considering. On the other hand, some drivers that are out are supposed to be compatible with Vista, and they work, but not without problems.

And since I run 64 bit Ultimate I can't use nuthin'!! But it is getting better every week.

Re: 1GB RAM with New Vista Laptop--will it work??
 

[ QUOTE ]

Or since OP isn't going to be running hardware that is probably being used by less than 15% of all users he could just get Vista and be fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree. And, if I read the OP's post correctly, he's looking at buying a new laptop....which will not be sold loaded with Vista without compatible drivers.

I'll say it again, for the average home/home office user wanting to surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, play a little poker, print photos Vista will do just fine for them. Granted, there is NO need to run out and upgrade, but instead I'm talking about buying a new PC with Vista pre-loaded.