Posts Tagged ‘Vista’
I’ve got to say that I have not fallen out of love with the pedigreed racehorse computer that my friends at AMD sent last year. I keep recommending this machine to everyone that asks me “for the ultimate laptop experience”. I have never been happier with a laptop. Typically for me, after 6 months of using a laptop, the love fades and I lust for something newer, faster, cooler. But I’m still in love with this machine.
Some of my peers asked me recently how I’d compare this Turion x2 64 bit processor to Intel’s Core 2 Duo. Tom’s Hardware has some gearhead type comparisons that look pretty decent (sans the Intel Santa Rosa). He used a Ferrari 1000 for his comparison (and that only had a Turion 56 X2 processor as opposed to the 60 in the 5000).
It isn’t as simple as that for me. It’s a holistic experience that includes the processor, the HD performance, the video performance, and the hardware and peripheral feature set. (Note: the 3945a/b/g wireless on these Intel models sucks beyond belief.) And the performance of my applications is what it’s all about. Photoshop is important to me. Benchmarks are theoretical and good marketing materials. I live in the real world.
I’ve been running Vista Ultimate x64 on the Ferrari 5000 on 2GB of RAM quite happily since I received this machine last November, but my batch image processing seems to be getting larger by the day and I’m wondering if more RAM will make Photoshop happier. It certainly takes advantage of the 64 bit processor.
The last time I priced 2x2GB sticks for this machine, it was like as much as some entire laptop computers. All of a sudden, the prices seem attractive and I’m having a hard time resisting. In fact I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before I make the call.
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Ferrari+5000+Series pricing is very very very sweet. It will be like a second honeymoon.
Some of you may remember that back in December 2006, Microsoft and AMD shipped me a Velocity Micro Cinemagix Pro Cinema Entertainment System.
This AMD Athlon X2 system with an ATI x1950 dual DVI card, 2 gigs RAM and huge hard drive was a wonder. Microsoft installed Windows Vista x64 Ultimate and Office 2007 and I was in, well, computer heaven. It was exactly the box I’d spec out myself. Perfect in every way. And certainly the fastest computer I’d ever had in my home.
It was perfect then, but today it is more than perfect. It returned last week after visiting the Velocity Micro factory where it received a BIOS upgrade and a tune up. Why send it back for a BIOS upgrade? The only thing missing was Digital Cable Tuner compatibility (to use CableCARD technology to view and record high definition TV). That feature was not available at the time I received this computer, but IT IS NOW.
To use CableCARD technology with Windows Media Center in Windows Vista, you need five pieces:
1. A machine with a certified (by CableLABS) DCT BIOS
2. A video card with HDCP compliance
3. A monitor or TV that is HDCP compliant
4. A Digital Cable Tuner (formerly called OCUR device)/DCT (or two if you want to watch and record at the same time)
5. A CableCARD from your local cable company.
Velocity Micro is offering this amazing machine with either an internal or external DCT. (You can add a second tuner as well).
I’ve got two external DCT’s attached to this machine and I’m in, well, high definition TV heaven.
If you’ve been waiting for the ability to watch and record high def TV on a kick-ass machine, run, don’t walk to Velocity Micro and customize one of these. Even if you aren’t into high def, this is one great computer.
Some of you may remember that back in December 2006, Microsoft and AMD shipped me a Velocity Micro Cinemagix Pro Cinema Entertainment System.
This AMD Athlon X2 system with an ATI x1950 dual DVI card, 2 gigs RAM and huge hard drive was a wonder. Microsoft installed Windows Vista x64 Ultimate and Office 2007 and I was in, well, computer heaven. It was exactly the box I’d spec out myself. Perfect in every way. And certainly the fastest computer I’d ever had in my home.
It was perfect then, but today it is more than perfect. It returned last week after visiting the Velocity Micro factory where it received a BIOS upgrade and a tune up. Why send it back for a BIOS upgrade? The only thing missing was Digital Cable Tuner compatibility (to use CableCARD technology to view and record high definition TV). That feature was not available at the time I received this computer, but IT IS NOW.
To use CableCARD technology with Windows Media Center in Windows Vista, you need five pieces:
1. A machine with a certified (by CableLABS) DCT BIOS
2. A video card with HDCP compliance
3. A monitor or TV that is HDCP compliant
4. A Digital Cable Tuner (formerly called OCUR device)/DCT (or two if you want to watch and record at the same time)
5. A CableCARD from your local cable company.
Velocity Micro is offering this amazing machine with either an internal or external DCT. (You can add a second tuner as well).
I’ve got two external DCT’s attached to this machine and I’m in, well, high definition TV heaven.
If you’ve been waiting for the ability to watch and record high def TV on a kick-ass machine, run, don’t walk to Velocity Micro and customize one of these. Even if you aren’t into high def, this is one great computer.
He has this one 100% on target. There is nothing worse than getting a shiny new Vista machine and finding it infested with craplets. Applications that the OEM was either paid to include (Norton, McAfee, Rhapsody, and all manner of unwanted garbage) plus trial versions of some software or links to it. Yuck.
Even customizing a machine on line isn’t foolproof. There are some Dells that you cannot simply customize to NOT include some 6 month trial – you can select from AOL/Earthlink/Net Zero, but you can’t select NO. Dell is used as an example, most others are equally as bad.
Here’s Walt’s video on the subject: