Ok, I bought one just now, and I went against you all, I bought an ACER

I bought the ACER Aspire 7735Z:

Specifications:

Processor: Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200
Processor clock speed: 2000 MHz
Processor front side bus: 800 MHz
Chipset: Mobile Intel GL40 Express
L2 cache: 1 MB

Hard disk interface: SATA
Hard disk rotational speed: 5400 rpm
Total storage capacity: 500 GB

Display diagonal: 17.3 "
Display response rise/fall: 8 ms
Display resolution: 1600 x 900 pixels
Number of colours: 16.7 M
Display brightness: 220 cd/m²
Aspect ratio: 16:9

Internal memory: 4096 MB
Memory slots: 2 SODIMM
Internal memory type: DDR3 SDRAM
Memory layout: 2 x 2048 MB
Maximum internal memory: 4 GB

Compatible memory cards: SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD
Card reader integrated: Yes

Graphic adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon™HD 4570
Dedicated video memory: 512 MB

Optical drive type: DVD±RW DL

Built-in microphone: Yes
Audio system: High-definition audio
Number of built-in speakers: 2

It comes with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1 though.

PRICE: 699€ (590£)


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Looks like a good spec to me. I don't know much about the T4200 processor, but some have been saying it is good for the money. Intel chipsets are also meant to be good. Also a fairly decent graphics card too that should be able to run most current games OK.

I do actually like Acer, just their battery life isn't brilliant, and I doubt with the hardware spec of this one it will be more than 2 hours.
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Question: Does a 32-bit based OS support the 4GB of RAM, or do I need a 64-bit system for full support?
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No, with a 32-bit OS it has a maximum of 4GB address space and this has to be shared with all parts of the system, so the graphics card will need some of that space, as well the L2 cache of the processor itself. Therefore if you run a 32bit OS you will see about 3-3.5GB of Ram.

You will need to install a 64bit OS to use all of the 4GB of ram. That was the main reason I installed Vista 64bit on my new system. And before you worry, I haven't yet found any recent software that doesn't work on the 64bit version. It will works perfectly, and some software has 64bit versions too so they are faster and can access all of the system ram too.
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Do you use a pirated 64-bit Vista? If so, how do you update it?
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if you decide to go for the cheap solution...look for PLIEK versions of XP or Vista and you get a nice setup without worries about update-probs!

Ron
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No, I own a copy of Vista Ultimate 64bit as I always tend to purchase legal copies of the main OS I'm using.

But most pirate copies of XP and Vista do work OK and can be upgraded, except for specific things that M$ lock out unless you have a genuine copy validation. Things like new versions of Mediaplayer and IE can't normally be downloaded and installed for example.

One cool thing with many of the "pirated" versions of Windows is that they are customised. There was a great XP Pro distro I used to have installed on one of my systems that included a ton of third party software out of the box.
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I know the PLIEK releases, but for now I will use the OS that came with the laptop.
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You can also upgrade any version of Vista to a different version, so that might be worth looking into to see if that would be a cheaper option than buying a full version.
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Yes, but this isn't a full version of Vista, only the one that comes preinstalled on your laptop. I don't have a copy of the OS, only a recovery disc, don't know if I can upgrade from that?
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