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1st if it ain't broke why fix it i recently helped a friend buy a laptop i was very disappointed in the vista experience scorers of the models on display most in the mid to high 3s! we chose a Dell s1440-022B which had an experience index of 5 out of a possible 5.9 got an external optical read wright drive since the system didn't have one built in for a tablet pc i think windows 7 is a no brainier as each successive version of windows has brought good things for others i would wait to upgrade and unless, like my friend, you need a new computer right mow i would wait for the models with windows7 installed AND USB 3.0 ports (jan-apt 2010) i have not seen enough yet to understand what benefits windows 7 offers media producers and of Course what software and drivers will be available to utilize these features we still are not able to realize the full potential of multi core processors and 64 bit Computing due to driver and software limitations
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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Quote:
i was very disappointed in the vista experience scorers of the models on display most in the mid to high 3s
Be careful with the overall base score. It is NOT an average of all the scores, but merely the lowest subscore.
For example, my computer's overall base score running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit is on an HP computer that is now almost a year old is 3.5. The subscores are:
Processor - 5.5
RAM - 5.8
Graphics - 3.5
Gaming Graphics - 4.3
Hard Drive - 5.9
I didn't go whole hog on the graphics card (I don't play games, but maybe I'll upgrade one day), and it reflects it in the above scores. Because my lowest score is 3.5 for graphics, that's my overall base score (which I see when I select Computer Properties). As you can see, the other scores are pretty respectable. But until I upgrade the graphics card, the overall score will stay at 3.5.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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That's a great point, John. Indeed, some music software recommends you should NOT get a high-powered graphics card, so your system and scores might actually be considered optimal.
Even with a good graphics card, sometimes it helps to throttle down the video acceleration, and I wonder if that would negatively affect the Windows Experience Index? Anybody ever try that?
Note that Vista tops out at 5.9, but Windows 7 was designed to recognize that hardware keeps getting better and it tops out at 7.9. [Why couldn't they just make it 6 and 8, anyway? Or 10 and be done with it. And, you get a 1 just for showing up.] So John, your hard drive subsystem may be even better than you think.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Update.
For anyone considering putting Windows 7 on a netbook, as was discussed in this thread, you should see the October 2009 issue of Laptop Magazine. Their benchmark testing indicates that, for the most part, putting Windows 7 on in place of Windows XP that shipped with the unit, will slow it down and adversely affect battery life.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Matt, thanks for your comments--" putting Windows 7 on in place of Windows XP that shipped with the unit, will slow it down and adversely affect battery life." I'm also reading some comments about battery life but others have countered that the battery meter on the AsusEee netbook in particular doesn't really reflect the actual battery level. And I have had advice to overclock my netbook.
This is an interesting thread and I'm glad I asked the question to get Win 7 or not?
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I have a nonworking HP laptop. I would like to replace the CPU, I think the HD's are ok, and have a testing computer for a Win 7 install. How difficult is that on an old laptop.
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My wife's netbook started clicking, and about 3 weeks later wouldn't boot. I found out how to reinstall from the xp partition and it worked until it tried to reboot again. (Thanks Bill G). Same deal. 3rd time i called. Tech support said I had to re-install the o/s. I said I did that but they said they had to log it, give me report number, and walked me through what I already knew how to do.
Then it died again.
I talked to support and this guy said it was the o/s was corrupt (bull) and that I needed a set of DVDs. I told him there is no DVD drive on the system he said go buy one! I argued that I didn't want to spend $100 bucks (a high number thinking that I get GEAR, but not liking what I'm hearing). The next thing that happens is he requires a credit card number because the DVD's are $22 for an OEM version. Now I'm unhappy.
They cave in and determine that I'm closest to Texas. Now I've been there at least 20 times, but close to me? Oh, Canada he says, goes to Toronto....geez. Gives me a number, and I shipped it out. Got a confirmation receipt the next day.
I would NOT overclock the thing, Band in a box on the external hard drive worked fine, and I suspect it would be faster on the system. And I thought it ran a bit hot, but it's almost a year old. We got it a future shop and added a year of extra coverage.
We like the computer, she can put it in her purse, we took it to Cuba twice, and it's been at our cabin 3 times. I have an external back up hard drive but just back up the photo and music files (and why I leave the music files on the external hard drive.) I suspect they are going have to bump the memory and do other stuff to run win 7.
It took a while to get used to the small keyboard but it's great for taking to gigs.
I suspect the price of some stuff is going to drop quite a bit before xmas or soon after, the dollar is close to par with the US this morning and expected to stay there until after the new year.
Hope this helps.
The replaced or repaired unit should be here this week, they said 5 to 7 business day.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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John, from the perspective of someone sitting in Bangalore, India, London Ontario is close to Texas.
Joan, how hard would it be? Could be quite hard. Just opening a laptop to replace things they expect, like memory, can be difficult. Getting to the motherboard will likely be very hard. You may even find that the CPU is soldered into it, and not replaceable. And there is always the hazard of breaking the cable that connects to the screen. Having done so once, I wouldn't attempt it again.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Great, Matt after reading your comments I'll forget my idea of restoring my HP laptop.
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Joan, if you are just going to dump it - you have nothing to lose
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Well, that is true. Should I open it and see what's in there. Possibly order some internal parts just for the fun of it.
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Never a bad idea to learn stuff, and opening it up will certainly be a learning exercise  As Matt says, the CPU could very well be soldered in, but I have another question - considering that CPU's are generally fairly robust once on the board, what caused you to conclude that a new CPU would fix it? I've seen lots of things fail on notebooks, but I don't recall ever having seen a CPU failure - doesn't mean it can't happen, but I would think it would be quite rare. If the machine is quite old it may be as simple as the CMOS battery - I've seen some strange behaviour in notebooks with a failed CMOS battery - stuff you don't see on desktops. However if it's that old then it most certainly is not a good candidate for Win7. A lot of Toshiba's will not start if the main battery is dead (as in stuffed - won't hold a charge), I haven't seen this phenomenon in HP's but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen - trouble is, a main battery is an expensive part to replace just on the off chance... It's worth looking for leaking electrolytic capacitors - haven't had this problem in a HP, but have in lots of other brands... The cap(s). will be slightly swollen and could have a brown stain in the stress relief lines in the end of the cap.
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya  --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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Since I didn't know any other names of things inside a laptop I just said CPU. It could be anything. I'm now looking for a manual on how to open the back of my laptop.
It's an HP Pavilion zv 6130us
I took out the HD, battery, and small window showing me the Ram I think!!!! But the rest doesn't seem to have screws that might open the entire back for me to look inside.
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This may sound hokey but I like saying that goes, "If it ain't broke... don't fix it." You did not address why you want to change to Win 7. Is there something your present OS lacks that you know will perform better on a new OS?
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G'day Joan,
it's likely the top comes off first - there should be a few screws that hold the keyboard in - some of the might by under a snap on panel at the rear of the top (just in front of the screen) the rest will be underneath.
From there it can be quite an adventure - notebooks are made to be assembled, not disassembled and repaired...
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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I just got the cover off and it was not easy finding all the screws. However, inside I don't see anything obviously wrong. The Ram sides didn't seem snapped in and I just pressed on them and heard a little click from both sides. I might just close it up and try running it. It was mostly to add to my experience in opening a laptop and peering inside.
I have an Asus desktop and a netbook so this was just something I was going to throw away, but made a good learning lab for me.
Back to Win 7--I'm just curious and wanted some options in case there was enough to warrant a switch. Just gathering data!!!!
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If the RAM strips weren't properly bedded in, no wonder it wouldn't work. Maybe, you've solved the problem now?
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Sam may well be correct.
There was a great article in a recent British computer magazine in which the publisher did an expose of computer repair shops in England. The fault they created was unseating a RAM bank in a laptop!
incidentally, the article said only one of many shops fixed it without doing anything wrong. Some shops fixed it immediately, then said the customer needed a new motherboard. One charged for a new motherboard but did not install it. And several shops went on to look at passwords, bank account numbers, and erotic pictures that were planted on the laptop. The test included software that turned on the camera when the computer was booted, and recorded what happened. Not very reassuring.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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On a good note I got the wife's ACER netbook back. Sent it out Friday, cost $14 bucks shipping. Fedex just dropped it off, new hard drive, reinstall o/s and something about a new thermal module assembly. And it's again clean like it came on day 1. Warranty repair no charge. That it failed is bad. That it came back in 2 working days (it was shipped Friday, and came back on Wednesday with Monday being Thanksgiving and all the stores were closed this was quick. Actually the email saying it was shipped arrived on the Blackberry as the Fedex truck pulled up in front of the house.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Quote:
Sam may well be correct.
There was a great article in a recent British computer magazine in which the publisher did an expose of computer repair shops in England. The fault they created was unseating a RAM bank in a laptop!
incidentally, the article said only one of many shops fixed it without doing anything wrong. Some shops fixed it immediately, then said the customer needed a new motherboard. One charged for a new motherboard but did not install it. And several shops went on to look at passwords, bank account numbers, and erotic pictures that were planted on the laptop. The test included software that turned on the camera when the computer was booted, and recorded what happened. Not very reassuring.
"EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT COMPUTERS I LEARNED IN SELF DEFENSE"
There were/are two reasons for this. First, when I began trying to create music with computers I quickly realized that no one in a computer store knew what I was talking about. (Ex.: Me: "I'm looking for a General MIDI soundcard. It has 128 voices." Sales weasel: "This computer has voices. It has voice recognition, too." Etc., etc.) Things have improved in the hardware department, but these days no one knows about music software except manufacturers and other users. Do your homework, people.
The second was that I was first infected by a virus in a repair shop, before I was ever online.* The tech was honest enough to explain that he kept viruses around for research. He never did adequately explain why his disk was in my machine. I have had a deep distrust of computer techs ever since (and have experienced the same when working on others' computers.) That's when I began to learn to build and repair PCs on my own, to the point that I got my A+ certificate.
My advice to others: The thing about a Personal Computer is that You are the Computer's Person. If you're going to use it as a musical instrument--and you are, if you think about it--you should get at least as good at it as you are on your 'real' axe. You'll still run across situations you can't handle, but you'll be better equipped to explain them when you have to, and to evaluate the results when you get it back.
I wish that it was otherwise, but everything points to any use of a PC outside of running name-brand vanilla software in business applications as being a hobby. Unless you have purchased a top-of-the line purpose-built name-brand unit, once you start installing audio soft- and hardware, it's down to you and your fellow hobbyists to get through it (and sometimes not then, as we occasionally see).
R.
* (The second virus was acquired via software bought at a yard sale.)
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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