Question:
"Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
General Questions
1) What is your budget?
Below 2500 EUR, if possible, below 2000 EUR
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Programming (mostly Delphi),
Matlab,
Document writing (Office, Excel),
Graphics (Canvas, Corel Draw, Photoshop)
CPU-intensive and GFX-intensive (OpenGL) scientific software
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Yes. Brussels-Oxford once a week, conferences, home and work.
Size is not really a matter. Weight is!
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Not much.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
No. But I'm looking for sturdy build quality.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Not important. Always plugged-in
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
No, on the contrary.
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
BELGIUM
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
widescreen
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Standard
c. UXGA - 1600x1200
Widescreen
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
not very important, but preferably non-glossy.
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Yes, very!
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Between now and december. 3 years.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
>= 80 GB
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
DVD-ROM, preferably writer.
I currently own a bulky and creaking Dell Inspiron 8200.
Put simply, I'm looking for a sturdy yet sleek, 15.4" or 17", Core 2 Duo, Windows Vista Premium ready notebook, offering a higher-than-average LCD resolution (I've gotten used to the 1600x1200 resolution of my previous notebook, standard XGA or WXGA resolutions are therefore not an option), which should be able to handle moderately graphics-intensive, yet CPU-intensive applications, but not games.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
HP nc8430 seems like an obvious candidate. It probably has more graphics capability than you need so it should run Aero like a charm. The ThinkPad T60 with the UXGA FlexView screen might fit as well though it may strain your budget. It is the best matte screen on the market. Good Luck.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
With those requirements, you are looking at a workstation-class notebook.
Consider the Dell Precision M65, and also the HP nw8440, which is the same notebook as the HP nc8430 ZaZ mentioned except it has a workstation-class graphics card, which is ideal for rendering/OpenGL.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
if you are looking for something more sleek, the lg s1 is worth a look. the samsung x60 is nice as well, but i think it has a glossy screen.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
no current notebook is vista premium ready.
you would need the santa rosa chipset and a dx 10 gpu
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
I like the HP nc8430 and nw8440 recommendations.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
stamar : not true! For example, Dell provides a rather clear listing of 'Vista capable' systems and whether or not they will be capable of offering the "Windows Aero experience"...
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
yes vista capable
but not vista premium capable
for that you will need the santa rosa chipset with the flash ram in the chipset, and a dx 10 gpu.
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
stamar: are you certain?
See how Microsoft (link), defines a "Windows Vista Premium Ready" system.
See also The Windows Vista wikipedia entry (link)
Put simply, the essential requirement appears to lie within the graphics card (DX9 compatible with WDDM driver, min 128 MB of dedicated graphics memory, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel).
or am I wrong?
Answer:
Re: "Vista Premium ready" WSXGA laptop
or am I wrong?
You're not wrong. Vista will come (or it will get patched) with DX10 but for sole operating system it is necessary for computer to have DX9 gfx card to be Vista Premium ready.
Just think a bit:
If DX10 is necessary for a computer to be Premium ready, when Vista comes out (in November, for large manufacturers) which computer will be Premium ready ? GeForce 8800 will come out after Vista. And yet, Vista Premium Ready computers are being advertised for quite a while now...