Computer Question for the Pros in this field

[Ian Anderson]

My wife is looking to buy a laptop computer to run a scrutineering program on (Dance scrutineering). Information on the program is here
http://dancesportphoto.net/ds/index.htm

The program uses Access database.

So we went looking for a cheap machine and all of them come with Vista Home Basic. Alarm bells rang from previous postings on this site about Vista.

So questions are - has Vista been improved enough to make it workable?
Is Vista Home Basic acceptable or is it necessary to upgrade to premium?
Would Office 2003 work with Vista Home Basic and run the Access?

The only thing this machine would be used for is this program - no internet or anthing else - hence the "el cheapo" sized pricetag. (We use Mac's at home and for music) Tesco has this machine on at £278 http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.204-9312.aspx - should be more than adequate we think - provided access will run.

Or is there an Access available for Macs? - I can not find anything on this.

So please could the computer gurus on here advise if this would be suitable and run the necessary access?

Thanks
Ian

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Ian

I'm sure others will disagree but I've found Vista to work fine on my laptop for past 18mths+

However - I did have problems with Office 2003 initially - mainly with Outlook but to an extent where I had to remove it and install Office 2007.

For the version that includes Access, this would not be a cheap solution.

If cheapness and compatibility are a main consideration why not pick up something off Ebay for say about £200. You can get reasonable power second hand - run XP and no problems with Office 2003 that you already have.

Just an idea... (oh and ps - I'm no 'Pro'..)

 

[Tod]

The best advice I can give is to buy as much technology as you can afford. Vista is memory hog, and as such you should have at least 2 gig of memory. You also will want to look at getting the most processer that you can for the price. 2 Gigahertz if you can. Vista for home should be adequate for what you need to do and should work without a problem with Office 2007.

Too bad you didn't ask this question back in June, you could still have gotton a new PC with Windows XP on it.

My personal preference is a Dell. We just bought one in January and have had good luck with it (but then I'm running XP).

 

[Ian K]

My wife is looking to buy a laptop computer to run a scrutineering program on (Dance scrutineering). Information on the program is here
DanceSport Scrutineering

The program uses Access database.

So we went looking for a cheap machine and all of them come with Vista Home Basic. Alarm bells rang from previous postings on this site about Vista.

So questions are - has Vista been improved enough to make it workable?
Is Vista Home Basic acceptable or is it necessary to upgrade to premium?
Would Office 2003 work with Vista Home Basic and run the Access?

The only thing this machine would be used for is this program - no internet or anthing else - hence the "el cheapo" sized pricetag. (We use Mac's at home and for music) Tesco has this machine on at £278 Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Li 2727 T1400 1GB 15.4" Laptop - Tesco.Direct - should be more than adequate we think - provided access will run.

Or is there an Access available for Macs? - I can not find anything on this.

So please could the computer gurus on here advise if this would be suitable and run the necessary access?

Thanks
Ian

Hi Ian,

There is no Access for OSX. And, even if there was (there is 3rd party software that will
Macs to talk to an Access database), the software your wife wants will not run on OSX
anyway. However, have you thought of installing VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop?
These both allow you to install Windows XP or Vista in a Virtual Machine on your Intel
based Mac (assuming your Macs are Intel based). There is also free virtuallization
software available from Sun. That way, you can just install Windows XP or Vista, the
free stripped down MS Access, and the Dance scrutineering software in the Virtual
Machine, and run it all within a window on your Mac.

Otherwise, I would go with a Dell laptop running XP. Vista is still a bit quirky, and Microsoft
has extended OEM XP support on Ultra Low Cost PCs through the later of June 30th, 2010
or 1 year after the next version of Windows becomes generally available.

IanK

 

[Ian Anderson]

Ok 2 suggestions for Dell and running XP - I tried the Dell site and could not get anything with XP - just various versions of Vista

A supplier we use at work has this
http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpresentation/index.php?product_id=TOYA05TUO

Ok £100 more than the "el cheapo" but seems to be along the lines specified above except only 1gb ram - presumably only another chip required to go to 2gb

In your opinion presumably better for the long run or am I still missing something?

cheers
Ian

 

[Ian K]

Ok 2 suggestions for Dell and running XP - I tried the Dell site and could not get anything with XP - just various versions of Vista

A supplier we use at work has this
Insight UK - Toshiba Satellite Pro A300-193 - Pentium Dual Co...

Ok £100 more than the "el cheapo" but seems to be along the lines specified above except only 1gb ram - presumably only another chip required to go to 2gb

In your opinion presumably better for the long run or am I still missing something?

cheers
Ian

At this time you can no longer get Dells installed with XP. I believe June 30, 2008 was
the last day. There might be some large govt/business contracts that allow institutional
purchases to get XP, but the consumer cannot. You still might be able to find copies of
XP that remain unsold, but it will be tough. And, again the Ultra Low Cost PC resellers
can still get XP, of which the listed Toshiba from Insight seems to apply.

2GB RAM is almost a minimum to run Vista these days, especially if the Video RAM is
shared (which, it appears, both the Toshiba and Fujitsu, and most ULC Laptops are
designed to do). Vista Home should suffice, no need for any of the other stuff. The Toshiba
from Insight has two RAM slots, so either it comes with 1x1GB RAM stick, or 2x512GB RAM
sticks. You would have to verify. The Fujistsu appears to max out a 1GB RAM, so I would
steer away from it.

BTW, you may not need to install the full Office Suite, you can get a stripped down
Access DB and that will work fine according to the software site.

IanK

 

[John W]

not true.
I recently brought a Dell, and yes it does come with Vista as standard, but you can get it with XP too.
In short, it comes with Vista on disk, but with XP SP2 installed.

I would strongly suggest you have a look at one of these Ian.

From my Invoice:

Vostro™ 1510 NB(N0715109A)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5670 (1.8 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® Vista™ Business (SP1) with XP Pro installed and Vista Media - English

This cost me £335.27 + vat & delivery (£393.94 all in).

Hope that helps

 

[Ian K]

not true.
I recently brought a Dell, and yes it does come with Vista as standard, but you can get it with XP too.
In short, it comes with Vista on disk, but with XP SP2 installed.

I would strongly suggest you have a look at one of these Ian.

From my Invoice:


This cost me £335.27 + vat & delivery (£393.94 all in).

Hope that helps

You are correct - you have to go for a "Small Business" solution to get XP.
But, I believe only the Vostro and Precision lines allow this - the Latitude E
and XPS series does not offer XP as an option.

Under "Large Business", the outgoing Latitude D and E series as well as
the Precision also appear to offer XP as an option. Not sure what you
need to do to qualify as a "Large Business" though.

IanK

 

[David Sturch]

Ian,
Another way around is to buy a off lease laptop. They are inexpensive and most have XP Pro pre loaded. There are software jobbers that sell Office Pro also if you with to run the older version with access or just the condensed file for the program.
Dave

 

[Anthony]

Dell are definatley the way to go, been buying them for years and recommending them for the same time.

Could not agree more with the RAM comments but i would add don't worry about buying all the ram up front, 3rd party sources rather tham OEM work out cheaper usually (upgraded my dell desktop from 2Gb to 4Gb for less than 30quid!!!)

If you aren't being clever with your Laptop then Vista Home would sort you out although i still use XP, i found Vista too 'fluffy' and 'clunky' I can never find where to configure anything which means Bill probably thinks i shouldn't be fiddling.....

FWIW, Hewlett Packard and Cable & Wireless still use XP as their corporate build

Drop me a PM if you require any software assistance :shifty:

 

[Caroon]

I'd have to agree with those who mentioned the memory issue, I'd say aim for 2gig with Vista. Not sure what your Mac is like, but if you have the capability on there, setting up Windows via Boot Camp is an option to consider if all you're going to use is the scrutineering software. Good luck!

-TRT
LaptopExperts.net

 

[Ian Anderson]

Guys

Thanks for all the advice - one of the best things about GT40s.com is the diverse range of people in one area who are prepared to assist where possible.

Well a computer was ordered yesterday evening from Dell - a bit more than originally hoped in £ terms but based on the information above Simone hopes to be up and running in a couple of days.

She actually went for the 17 inch screen version in the end as it has the extended keyboard with the 10 number pad and has also gone for the factory fit of 2mb ram - a must for this type of work and so reduces the need to an "add on" usb one.

Thanks again

Ian