gateway vs. acer

By basd on Jul 18, 2010 | In vista

I think you are not up-to-date on my gateway netbook revival. If you care, which you probably don't anyway. I'm not certain I care.

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In earlier posts I described how i preferred the gateway Lt3101 to the Acer whatever-it-is that I replaced the [formerly dead] gateway with. But, opinions evolve.

My preference for the gateway was based on screen resolution, or rather "amount of stuff on the screen," which is a whole lot more than I can cram onto the 1024x768 acer screen.

As my most avid readers will be aware, the gateway sprang back to life when I removed linux and loaded a fresh install of the original vista (yikes!). So, the gateway is once again [barely] functional -- but sufficiently usable for its primary task, which merely requires browser capability and internet access.

But, my "downsize" trend in computers continues unabated. And what I have noticed now is that I'm spoiled by the light weight and small size of the Acer. Not that it's a lot lighter or a lot smaller than the gateway. But, it is incrementally smaller and lighter.

And in addition, the battery lasts longer, despite being smaller. So, the gateway remains retired pending the upcoming OpSu11.3 linux install, some periperhal hardware issues & etc.

Nevertheless, it has been a goodly period of time since I have appropriately trashed the loser operating system of the Century, Microsoft Vista. And, if you dig deeply enough in this blog, you will find where I say moderately approving things of Vista such as that it seemingly runs adequately ok on the Gateway, surprising after the complete debacle my vista+sony vaio turned out to be.

(The Sony remains relatively retired due to its size/weight/battery issues when compared against my more lithe netbooks, btw. Even though in Linux mode, it remains a fairly capable piece of hardware.)

The Gateway? Not so much. How much difference a little time makes. Remember, this computer was acquired circa last September (or November) or so. And back then, it was capable.

Whereas, 200 or so Microsoft Vista updates later, it is largely not capable. Are you kidding me? (Or wait, I knew this ...) So, to get this right, roughly about the time Windows 7 became available, Vista on the Gateway became so cludgy as to be unusable. Quelle coincidence, n'est pas?

One speed up "trick" I had been using was to remove the swap/cache file. Well, you can now forget that! Bloatware USA now takes up enough memory that I can't run the Vaio without the cache so I had to re-enable it for anything to run at all.

I did set the new one at the OS recommended max size (setting both min and max to the same value) as opposed to allowing the OS adjust it dynamically. Runs betterer, but not necessarily all that better. Well, it runs. And on its current usefulness trajectory, perhaps the Vaio will become the replacement boat anchor to step in for the present Netflix server Compaq. It does, after all, feature versions of both Vista and WindowsXP along with OpSu 11.2. And it's quiet. And also, it has some software that is pretty good for pulling videos off my now obsolete Sony video camera and turning them into DVDs. (Which I guess when you think about it, are also obsolete.) Maybe I just need some awesomely large archival hard drives.

Better upgrade that iFolder server, now that I think about it. More volumes!