Laptops and OS installs
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Yeah, a lot of vendors do that and charge extra for their install DVDs. Dell sets up a recovery partition they like you not to erase if you want support, I believe. So, it's best to ask first. I won't buy one that doesn't give me the OS on a DVD. The best thing about a notebook IMO is being able to wipe it in one easy step and get a virgin machine to test installers on, etc.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
You could just create a recovery DVD upon getting the new laptop, and it /the DVD/ is booting okay after you format the HD. At least this was the case with my Acer who went into eternal electrical fields recently – R.I.P. The only problem is that all of the crapware coming with the laptop also goes on this recovery disk/or disc?/ along with the OS.
The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word. Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
My Toshiba is a few years old, but it came with a complete set of install CD's. They give you total control over what gets installed - the bare OS, and then each of the 3rd party apps (crapware) they include can be installed separately. No ghost partitions. I've even installed a larger HDD, upgraded the RAM and replaced the motherboard when it failed, so that'll give you an idea of the maintainability. And it's a good thing- I did all the work on my own because their service sucks. Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess. :)
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
I've never had any problems, but I do first check what the hardware is on the laptop, specifically the video and sound, and make sure that there are drivers for the OS I want to install. You can certainly do that before you make the purchase as well. Marc
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Yeah, a lot of vendors do that and charge extra for their install DVDs. Dell sets up a recovery partition they like you not to erase if you want support, I believe. So, it's best to ask first. I won't buy one that doesn't give me the OS on a DVD. The best thing about a notebook IMO is being able to wipe it in one easy step and get a virgin machine to test installers on, etc.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
I think a much simpler solution to testing installers is just to use VMWare or similar. Just click a button, and seconds later you've got a "fresh" install. The full version allows you to create snapshots - I use these to test against OSes in various states of update: SP1, SP2, SP3, etc. Great stuff. Only downside is that it almost by definition should not be used for applications that interact heavily with the hardware: drivers and realtime apps and such. Eric
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
One recent US review ranked laptops for overall reliability - this include the ability to get the thing serviced competently if it broke down. Apple came out towards the top of the list because their service technicians only deal with Apples (so they usually know what they're doing). But overall an Apple laptop is about as reliable as any other big brand - i.e not very because they are built down to a price. Top for the list for real reliability was ASUS. Considering I don't live anywhere near a 'recognised service agent' guess what brand I got for my wife. It's had only one small niggle after over a year of abuse (and probably being dropped on the floor by one of my wife's relatives), which turned out to be a very easy fix. My work provides me with a Durabook (ruggedised laptop) - don't bother, every one we've ever bought has had problems, and we bought plenty. We've also had lots of IBM/Lenovo (s)Thinkpads - again useless, especially all of the large footprint models. After plowing my way through plenty of laptops and after monitoring all of the other failures in this and other companies, here's my recommendations. 1. Don't buy BIG brands. You're paying for the brand name (not reliability) and you won't get value for money. 2. Don't buy no-name laptops. These things are just trouble waiting to happen. 3. Do buy lesser known brands. The build quality is usually great and the price is too. Try ASUS, BenQ, MSI. They're after market share and want you to come back for more.
I just love Koalas - they go great with Bacon.
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I'm tentatively considering getting a laptop, specifically for graphics work. It's been a long time since I've done anything with them, but it used to be the case that some/many/all would have special partitions and special installers so that if you wanted to wipe the HD clean and install some new copy of the OS, bad things would inevitably happen. Is this still the case? Or are things more flexible now? Does it depend on the vendor?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
I've never had particular problems; just make sure that you go to the maker's web-site, first, and download all the latest drivers for the machine -- running a laptop on the drivers provided by the OS is rarely fun. The order of priority is normally: 1. Install the OS. 2. Update the monitor driver. 3. Update all the other drivers. If you need practice in rebooting laptops, you won't, by the time you've finished.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!