New Laptop: Should I wipe Vista and install XP for MxO?

I don't think this is the wrong forum for it, but here's my situation:

I'm about to purchase a new Dell Inspiron 1720, and it comes with Vista Home Premium already installed.  The graphics card is a 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT also.  I've looked through the forums with regard to the Vista graphics problems, as well as the GeFore 8000 series causing massive indoor lag.  I'm love seeing MxO really spec'ed out (which is why I'm getting the higher-end customizations for it), and I want to frap movies and take great screentshots.

My questions are these:

1. Should I just wipe Vista when I get the laptop in and install XP?
If you do wipe the laptop and install windows xp you will run into the problem of indoor lag with the 8000 series on XP.
2. If I do that, do I have to worry about any hardware Dell might've built exclusively for Vista put into my computer, and would cause problems?
You shouldn't have to worry about it, from what Im aware there isn't really to much vista specific hardware.
3. And are the GeForce 8600's specifically causing indoor lag like the 8800's?
Yes all 8000 series cards are having indoor lag problems in windows XP.


I've already tried to talk to Dell myself, but they always give me someone whose primary language is not English, even when I just chat via keyboards with them.  All I get is contradictory answers.  I just don't want to buy this thing and MxO not look great on it like it should.


Please, O hardware gurus of this forum, help me!  And thanks in advance for any help given.

Just make sure you back up all your pr0n ahead of time. " />

Mave wrote:

Just make sure you back up all your pr0n ahead of time. " />

There is an option to purchase a laptop with XP installed instead of Vista, if I recall. Saves you the work of reformatting a brand new laptop. " />

(If you do choose to stay with XP anyway)

V pointed me toward this thread.... kinda funny.

Dell is replacing my laptop with the 1720. (Long story...)

I've spoken to 3 supervisors and countless technicians and customer service reps. They can offer you a 5 (something) if you want XP, being that the 6000 isn't available anymore. They may put XP on it for you at request (ONE rep told me) B U T some of the drivers and components were specifically made to run with Vista (like I said, so I was told). That also means if you have software issues, it's somewhat your problem, not theres.  So, yea, I'm getting the 1720 as well, with Vista. I'd like to cringe now.  I'm glad to popped in here, anyone else have info?!  

Seems like I'm screwed either way I go.  I really want the new laptop, but really don't want the indoor lag.  MxO's a good portion of what I do on my computer.  That, and I hope all my old software (Photoshop, Premiere, etc) will work on it.  Or should I just scrap the Dell idea and find another?

Hiya Archy!

It's just my 2 cents, but if I were in your shoes, I'd keep Vista on the laptop if it comes that way from Dell.  First, laptop hardware is always shaky because they're trying to cram desktop performance into a smaller, more custom hardware footprint.  That means that the drivers and supporting software Dell will load onto the machine will be more geared towards the machine than anything you jury-rig from your own XP install and some downloads.

Second, while I will agree that Vista's a very different animal from XP, they share this in common:  it's taking a while for the OS to really come into its own.  It's going to take a bit of time I think before the problems inherent in Vista's launch are truly addressed with newer drivers (anyone remember Windows 2000?  We had this same problem).

It may be a few months before Vista driver and software issues really start to smooth out, but I'm not thinking Vista is a dead-end that will "break" every game you own.  It, like XP, just needs a bit more time (and be thankful you're not spec'ing out an SLi laptop!).  In the meantime, I wouldn't be trying to use a laptop for hi-res screen grabs or movie-making; I'd play on it, but not expect super-sharp graphics or high frame rates:  desktops are more likely to be able to pull that off in Vista right now.

Now, here's the interesting wrinkle!  With Vista giving a "User Experience Index" rating, how long will it be before manufacturers are pressured (or required!) to post the Index of every item they sell?  Given that my Vista Ultimate Desktop is pretty powerful, and ranks a 4.8 out of 10, I'm not thinking anyone is in a rush to do that.  Word to the wise, when spec'ing a Vista laptop for gaming:  best processor, and fastest HD speed.  By "best processor", I mean don't just look up the speed, go to the Intel or AMD site and make sure you know the L1/L2 cache sizes.  It does make a difference.

Oh, in case you're curious, here's a 4.8 out of 10:

ASUS A8N32-SLi Deluxe motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual-core processor

3GB OCZ PC-3200 RAM, OC'd for performance

250GB SATA 2.0 (3GB/s) HD

Dual gigabit Ethernet direct-connect to 8MBps broadband

256MB Radeon X850 video card

Oddly enough, the video isn't the Achilles heel in this system--it rates the processor and HD as lowest...

WinterMute gives good advice.

Stick with the OS the machine was provided as the drivers will be tailored for that OS.

What you really need to ask yourself is: " Do I NEED a laptop? Or would a desktop be ok?" A desktop can give you much better performance for your dollar, as well as you KNOW that the cards are replaceable.

WinterMute gives good advice. " />

Stick with the OS the machine was provided as the drivers will be tailored for that OS.

What you really need to ask yourself is: " Do I NEED a laptop? Or would a desktop be ok?" A desktop can give you much better performance for your dollar, as well as you KNOW that the cards are replaceable.

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 is an onboard Video Card (It's integrated into the motherboard itself)

It is a DirectX9.0c Shader model 3.0 capable chipset (no support for DirectX 10 if you plan to use Vista in the future) that can run MxO, but it's not a performance chipset and you won't get very good performance.

Also being integrated you can't upgrade it... The Alienware laptops (I have one) have upgradable video cards (untill the connection type changes again)

At this point I'll point to my post here: Upgrading a video card in a laptop