Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users

Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in hotels
and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really need
a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because of
these preconfigured network ready settings?

I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as long
as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
settings that I have no use for.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mister Softie >> [mailto:<<]
> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 12:20 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> Subject: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>
> Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
> Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in hotels
> and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really need
> a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
> either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because of
> these preconfigured network ready settings?
>
> I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as long
> as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
> settings that I have no use for.


I don't own a Vostro, but there really isn't anything unique. Office
will be fine, the network will be fine. I've had problems getting my My
Book to work flawlessly on Vista, but it seems to have settled down and
works now. I suspect some Vista update solved the problem.

It won't have any settings restrictions out of the box, so you'll be
able to do whatever you want.

Tom

Tom Scales wrote:
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mister Softie >> [mailto:<<]
> > Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 12:20 AM
> > Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> > Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> > Subject: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> >
> > Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
> > Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in hotels
> > and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really need
> > a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
> > either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because of
> > these preconfigured network ready settings?
> >
> > I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as long
> > as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
> > settings that I have no use for.
>
> I don't own a Vostro, but there really isn't anything unique. Office
> will be fine, the network will be fine. I've had problems getting my My
> Book to work flawlessly on Vista, but it seems to have settled down and
> works now. I suspect some Vista update solved the problem.
>
> It won't have any settings restrictions out of the box, so you'll be
> able to do whatever you want.
>
> Tom

The Inspiron 1501 is pokey-slow compared to the Vostro 1500, owing to
some unfavorable combination of CPU's & onboard cache size, and FSB speed.
(I get 1.7 times slower in my cpu-intensive test with the respective dual core
base processors.)

Probably the Vostro 1000 is similarly slow, if the V1500 is a possibility.

Though they're charging more for the V1500 this week (I paid $649 for 2gb/120gb).

All come with XP if you want.

--


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

"Mister Softie >>" <<<> wrote in message
news:...
> Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
> Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in hotels
> and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really need
> a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
> either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because of
> these preconfigured network ready settings?
>
> I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as long
> as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
> settings that I have no use for.


The Vostro will work fine for your purposes.

Since you're going for a price point with either of these machines, my
advice is to get the one that offers Windows XP and with no less than 1gb of
RAM.

I wouldn't advise buying either with Vista. Even with 2gb of RAM you'll
likely be disappointed in the system's performance if using the new OS.

Stew

> -----Original Message-----
> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:12 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> Subject: Re: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>
>
> "Mister Softie >>" <<<> wrote in message
> news:...
> > Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
> > Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in
> hotels
> > and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really
> need
> > a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
> > either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because
> of
> > these preconfigured network ready settings?
> >
> > I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as
> long
> > as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
> > settings that I have no use for.
>
>
> The Vostro will work fine for your purposes.
>
> Since you're going for a price point with either of these machines, my
> advice is to get the one that offers Windows XP and with no less than
> 1gb of
> RAM.
>
> I wouldn't advise buying either with Vista. Even with 2gb of RAM
you'll
> likely be disappointed in the system's performance if using the new
OS.
>
> Stew


I have to disagree. We went through this with the 2000 to XP transition
with everyone suggesting staying with 2000 because XP was terrible.

I'm running Vista on a number of machines and it runs just fine. Typing
this on a Vista machine Remote Desktop'd to a Vista machine.

I do think 2GB is the sweet spot and a decent processor, but it doesn't
require enormous resources.

I just bought upgrades for all my primary machines -- don't want to
support multiple OS if I can avoid it. Time to make the move.

"Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
news:E42E789EBCBE494092CA775173ADA199@M2010...
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
>> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:12 AM
>> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
>> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>> Subject: Re: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>>
>>
>> "Mister Softie >>" <<<> wrote in message
>> news:...
>> > Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
>> > Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in
>> hotels
>> > and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really
>> need
>> > a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
>> > either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because
>> of
>> > these preconfigured network ready settings?
>> >
>> > I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as
>> long
>> > as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
>> > settings that I have no use for.
>>
>>
>> The Vostro will work fine for your purposes.
>>
>> Since you're going for a price point with either of these machines, my
>> advice is to get the one that offers Windows XP and with no less than
>> 1gb of
>> RAM.
>>
>> I wouldn't advise buying either with Vista. Even with 2gb of RAM
> you'll
>> likely be disappointed in the system's performance if using the new
> OS.
>>
>> Stew
>
>
> I have to disagree. We went through this with the 2000 to XP transition
> with everyone suggesting staying with 2000 because XP was terrible.
>
> I'm running Vista on a number of machines and it runs just fine. Typing
> this on a Vista machine Remote Desktop'd to a Vista machine.
>
> I do think 2GB is the sweet spot and a decent processor, but it doesn't
> require enormous resources.
>
> I just bought upgrades for all my primary machines -- don't want to
> support multiple OS if I can avoid it. Time to make the move.
>


Tom,

We're just going to have to disagree on this one - at least right now.

While I expect Vista will run acceptably on an above-average hardware
configuration, my opinion is that it performs like syrup on machines with
integrated video (desktops or notebooks), especially those with either a
sub-par CPU (Sempron/Celeron, or even low-end CoreDuo's, one of which I own.
Or even on systems with a nice CPU but less than 2gb RAM).

In fairness, most of these machines were the original OEM image (after being
tweaked and trimmed down) but there could still be some collective "bloat"
from other software present.

A clean install of Vista might prove otherwise, though I've only done that
with a 3.0GHz/1gb/128mb graphics card system. The system was woefully
affected.

I have yet to see a Vista system that seemed "crisp" or "snappy fast" to me.
When I see such a configuration, I'll be glad to post as much.

Do any of your high-end machines perform as well with Vista as with XP?

Stew

> -----Original Message-----
> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
>

> Tom,
>
> We're just going to have to disagree on this one - at least right now.
>
> While I expect Vista will run acceptably on an above-average hardware
> configuration, my opinion is that it performs like syrup on machines
> with
> integrated video (desktops or notebooks), especially those with either
> a
> sub-par CPU (Sempron/Celeron, or even low-end CoreDuo's, one of which
I
> own.
> Or even on systems with a nice CPU but less than 2gb RAM).
>
> In fairness, most of these machines were the original OEM image (after
> being
> tweaked and trimmed down) but there could still be some collective
> "bloat"
> from other software present.
>
> A clean install of Vista might prove otherwise, though I've only done
> that
> with a 3.0GHz/1gb/128mb graphics card system. The system was woefully
> affected.
>
> I have yet to see a Vista system that seemed "crisp" or "snappy fast"
> to me.
> When I see such a configuration, I'll be glad to post as much.
>
> Do any of your high-end machines perform as well with Vista as with
XP?
>
> Stew


I actually don't think we're disagreeing. My point was that XP is not
necessarily the blanket solution -- Vista is fine on appropriately
configured hardware.

My XPS410 seems to run pretty much the same on XP vs. Vista, but that
box is a media server, so it is hard to really say. I'm going to move a
410 over to being my primary desktop and plan on upgrading to Vista
Ultimate at that time, so I'll finally have a machine that used to be
XP.

My I1420 and M2010 laptops are both Vista and run just fine. Both have
decent graphics cards and T7300 processors (and 2GB) so neither are
entry level.

That said, since I buy from the outlet primarily, I can't see buying an
entry level processor. Spend a few more bucks and future proof the
purchase. < $100 difference.

I wouldn't buy an AMD right now either. Intel is winning the bang for
the buck race and have since the Core 2 Duos came out (really since that
later Core Duos). AMD will likely leapfrog again, but I'm surprising it
has taken them this long. Intel keeps marching forward with better
processors.

How else can you explain a $750 XPS410 with a Q6600 Quad core.

On Thu, 4 Oct 2007 08:27:23 -0400, "Tom Scales" <>
wrote:

>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
>> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:12 AM
>> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
>> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>> Subject: Re: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>>
>>
>> "Mister Softie >>" <<<> wrote in message
>> news:...
>> > Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
>> > Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in
>> hotels
>> > and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really
>> need
>> > a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data backup
>> > either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles because
>> of
>> > these preconfigured network ready settings?
>> >
>> > I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as
>> long
>> > as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small business
>> > settings that I have no use for.
>>
>>
>> The Vostro will work fine for your purposes.
>>
>> Since you're going for a price point with either of these machines, my
>> advice is to get the one that offers Windows XP and with no less than
>> 1gb of
>> RAM.
>>
>> I wouldn't advise buying either with Vista. Even with 2gb of RAM
>you'll
>> likely be disappointed in the system's performance if using the new
>OS.
>>
>> Stew
>
>
>I have to disagree. We went through this with the 2000 to XP transition
>with everyone suggesting staying with 2000 because XP was terrible.
>
>I'm running Vista on a number of machines and it runs just fine. Typing
>this on a Vista machine Remote Desktop'd to a Vista machine.
>
>I do think 2GB is the sweet spot and a decent processor, but it doesn't
>require enormous resources.
>
>I just bought upgrades for all my primary machines -- don't want to
>support multiple OS if I can avoid it. Time to make the move.


Well I can't speak from personal experience yet but Vista sales are
not that great and the fact that Dell made XP available (finally) is
proof as to which is better so far. I agree that Vista will mature
and be the OS of choice (assuming people want newer software to use
with it). Personally I'm waiting for SP1 which is due either in
January or 1st qtr next year (depending which source you read).
Likely Vista has improved already from what it was outa the gate and
by that I mean more drivers are available to work with Vista as well
as more software is now compatible with Vista. So it may not be so
bad to use Vista now as it was approx a year ago but I suppose that
ultimately depends on what programs or peripherals you want to run
with it. Perhaps one more factor could be speed. From a lot of
reports, Vista ran slower than XP but my personal feeling is as pc's
get more powerful or more ram can be utilized within Vista, this
probably will be of a lesser concern.

Tom, if I recall, didn't you have a printer problem or some peripheral
problem some time ago that didn't work with Vista? Can you refresh my
memory and did you get it to work finally?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: RnR [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 9:06 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> Subject: Re: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
>
> On Thu, 4 Oct 2007 08:27:23 -0400, "Tom Scales" <>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
> >> Posted At: Thursday, October 04, 2007 8:12 AM
> >> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> >> Conversation: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> >> Subject: Re: Further Q's about Vostro NB for Home PC Users
> >>
> >>
> >> "Mister Softie >>" <<<> wrote in message
> >> news:...
> >> > Will I have problems when trying to install home versions of MS
> >> > Office? How about network connectivity settings? I will be in
> >> hotels
> >> > and Starbucks. Vostro comes with wireless cards. I do'nt really
> >> need
> >> > a network ready PC since I have no server. No need for data
> backup
> >> > either. I back up with My Book. Will there be any hassles
> because
> >> of
> >> > these preconfigured network ready settings?
> >> >
> >> > I could use an Inspiron 1501 but I'd rather get a Vostro 1000, as
> >> long
> >> > as I won't have any hassles with these preconfigured small
> business
> >> > settings that I have no use for.
> >>
> >>
> >> The Vostro will work fine for your purposes.
> >>
> >> Since you're going for a price point with either of these machines,
> my
> >> advice is to get the one that offers Windows XP and with no less
> than
> >> 1gb of
> >> RAM.
> >>
> >> I wouldn't advise buying either with Vista. Even with 2gb of RAM
> >you'll
> >> likely be disappointed in the system's performance if using the new
> >OS.
> >>
> >> Stew
> >
> >
> >I have to disagree. We went through this with the 2000 to XP
> transition
> >with everyone suggesting staying with 2000 because XP was terrible.
> >
> >I'm running Vista on a number of machines and it runs just fine.
> Typing
> >this on a Vista machine Remote Desktop'd to a Vista machine.
> >
> >I do think 2GB is the sweet spot and a decent processor, but it
> doesn't
> >require enormous resources.
> >
> >I just bought upgrades for all my primary machines -- don't want to
> >support multiple OS if I can avoid it. Time to make the move.
>
>
> Well I can't speak from personal experience yet but Vista sales are
> not that great and the fact that Dell made XP available (finally) is
> proof as to which is better so far. I agree that Vista will mature
> and be the OS of choice (assuming people want newer software to use
> with it). Personally I'm waiting for SP1 which is due either in
> January or 1st qtr next year (depending which source you read).
> Likely Vista has improved already from what it was outa the gate and
> by that I mean more drivers are available to work with Vista as well
> as more software is now compatible with Vista. So it may not be so
> bad to use Vista now as it was approx a year ago but I suppose that
> ultimately depends on what programs or peripherals you want to run
> with it. Perhaps one more factor could be speed. From a lot of
> reports, Vista ran slower than XP but my personal feeling is as pc's
> get more powerful or more ram can be utilized within Vista, this
> probably will be of a lesser concern.
>
> Tom, if I recall, didn't you have a printer problem or some peripheral
> problem some time ago that didn't work with Vista? Can you refresh my
> memory and did you get it to work finally?

I did have a printer problem, but it went away

I suspect an update fixed it.

yeah, but this guy is asking about a vostros 1000 that at its best comes
with a tl-60 processor and at best integrated video. vista will likely
disappoint. then again if you don't know better then you don't know what you
are missing. comming from a old slow machine it still may make someone
happy. but vista is only offered in 'home basic' or 'business' editions
with the vostros 1000. this suggests to me that even dell knows that
running aero on this thing is likely going to disappoint. plus the op is
asking about installing existing office software which depending on the
version (not specified) is another potential problem for a vista... and
don't get me started on vista wireless connections which was asked about.
i'll let others work out the kinks with vista. it isn't as if there is
anything in vista that helps me. i don't need a clock on the screen in
addition to the clock in the lower right hand corner... and i don't need to
see the application i am switching to before i switch... there is nothing
appealing to me about it. but that is just my opinion.

"Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
news:C08D3BEA7E1E4B3EA0D43BBD8FFF4062@M2010...
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: S.Lewis [private.php?do=newpm&u=]
>>
>
>> Tom,
>>
>> We're just going to have to disagree on this one - at least right now.
>>
>> While I expect Vista will run acceptably on an above-average hardware
>> configuration, my opinion is that it performs like syrup on machines
>> with
>> integrated video (desktops or notebooks), especially those with either
>> a
>> sub-par CPU (Sempron/Celeron, or even low-end CoreDuo's, one of which
> I
>> own.
>> Or even on systems with a nice CPU but less than 2gb RAM).
>>
>> In fairness, most of these machines were the original OEM image (after
>> being
>> tweaked and trimmed down) but there could still be some collective
>> "bloat"
>> from other software present.
>>
>> A clean install of Vista might prove otherwise, though I've only done
>> that
>> with a 3.0GHz/1gb/128mb graphics card system. The system was woefully
>> affected.
>>
>> I have yet to see a Vista system that seemed "crisp" or "snappy fast"
>> to me.
>> When I see such a configuration, I'll be glad to post as much.
>>
>> Do any of your high-end machines perform as well with Vista as with
> XP?
>>
>> Stew
>
>
> I actually don't think we're disagreeing. My point was that XP is not
> necessarily the blanket solution -- Vista is fine on appropriately
> configured hardware.
>
> My XPS410 seems to run pretty much the same on XP vs. Vista, but that
> box is a media server, so it is hard to really say. I'm going to move a
> 410 over to being my primary desktop and plan on upgrading to Vista
> Ultimate at that time, so I'll finally have a machine that used to be
> XP.
>
> My I1420 and M2010 laptops are both Vista and run just fine. Both have
> decent graphics cards and T7300 processors (and 2GB) so neither are
> entry level.
>
> That said, since I buy from the outlet primarily, I can't see buying an
> entry level processor. Spend a few more bucks and future proof the
> purchase. < $100 difference.
>
> I wouldn't buy an AMD right now either. Intel is winning the bang for
> the buck race and have since the Core 2 Duos came out (really since that
> later Core Duos). AMD will likely leapfrog again, but I'm surprising it
> has taken them this long. Intel keeps marching forward with better
> processors.
>
> How else can you explain a $750 XPS410 with a Q6600 Quad core.
>