Vista pc equipment

[The Decorator]

On the M/H forum Lenny made a comment about Vista PC's having problems.

 

In three years using both a desktop and a large laptop I've had none.

 

The only discomfort I do find are the black keys, so for use in the M/H I have an Acer Aspire, although much slower, its easy to see in darker surroundings mainly due to the keys and surround being a light colour.

 

Anyone else had Vista problems?

 

 

 

[Guest Tracker]

We find Vista more unstable and prone to unexpected crashes than either XP or Win7 - but it does seem to be somewhat better than it used to be.

 

If buying a new machine now I would opt for a 32bit Windows7 OS.

[Brian Kirby]

You'd need Lenny to say what were the problem he experienced to understand if they were caused by Vista.  We have three computers, two laptops with Vista Home Premium, and one desktop with Vista Business.  All are Dell, all "designed for Vista" and the OS is OEM on all three. 

So far as I am aware, neither version of Vista causes any problems, though the computers with Home Premium seem that bit more stable generally than that with Business.  However, whether that slight instability from time to time relates to Vista, or the version of Vista, as opposed to the architecture of the computer, I am not qualified to say.

All three run broadly the same programmes, and all are wireless networked: mostly Office 2007 bits plus Outlook, Photoshop Elements 2 or 8, Microsoft Money '97 (yes, I know, but it does all I want and I like it!), ACSI 2010, Nikon and Canon camera programmes, Adobe Acrobat Reader, AutoRoute 2002/2010, Garmin MapSource, MapInstall and POI loader, and Norton 360 on subscription, through which we back-up to NAS, all without stability problems.

The Vista business computer often hangs for a couple of seconds when loading Office programmes, the others don't.  I have elected to install updates manually in preference to allowing automatic installation, because the installation sometimes falls over with annoying consequences, mainly when installing Defender updates at the same time as others.  I install multiple updates individually to avoid this.  However, that seems to me to relate to Microsoft's update installation management and not to Vista, or the computers themselves.

[PJay]

We fiound Vista to be very very slow in start up on our laptop Have now upgraded to Win 7. Much Much faster, and IMO much better operating system

P

[pkc]

I run XP, Vista, and Windows 7 on different computers, my preference is for Windows 7 or XP.

Although I have never had any real problems with Vista I find it clunky in comparison.

I noted that you run both Autoroutes Brian, I am considering buying Autoroute 10 to run with GPS, and I would be interested in your verdict, perhaps in another thread?

I have a TomTom but I like the route planning abilities of Autoroute

 

Regards PKC.

[Brian Kirby]

Briefly, AR 2010 has the up to date maps, and has more detail in a number of countries, esp the newer eastern EC countries.  It lacks the facility for setting average speed for various road categories in KPH/MPH, giving only a facility for three degrees of "slower", or "faster", than an unspecified average speed, for each of the various road types.  This, I find a retrograde step.  However, setting it to the slowest setting seems to work out about the same (for the motorhome) for most road types as with my previous settings in AR 2002, so arrival times can still be estimated.  Otherwise, it is very similar with mainly cosmetic differences.

[pkc]

Cheers Brian, I am obliged.

 

Regards PKC.