Vista Experience is a 2.0

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A common Picture of my Laptop I'm currently awaiting a new laptop at work, so in the interim I thought I would dust off my old ASUS W1J00GC laptop and see how Vista Ultimate would work under a low spec machine.

Now, before I begin, I should note that Windows Vista has a "System Assessment Tool", built in. It essentially sits under the "Performance Information and Tools" menu and provides an indexed score on how the overall experience will be within Vista.

This laptop recieved a 2.0 (which suprised me as I thought it would be lower) which means the following:

A computer with a base score of 1 or 2 usually has sufficient performance to do most general computing tasks, such as run office productivity applications and search the Internet. However, a computer with this base score is generally not powerful enough to run Windows Aero, or the advanced multimedia experiences that are available with Windows Vista.

Althought it states that Windows Aero is most likely unable to run under this rating, I've found it works quite smoothly. I have a desktop also at home, which has a rating of 4.8 and which is basically "The perfect fit, or close to and it has so much power, that it needs water cooling".

A computer with a base score of 4 or 5 is able to run all new features of Windows Vista with full functionality, and it is able to support high-end, graphics-intensive experiences, such as multiplayer and 3‑D gaming and recording and playback of HDTV content. Computers with a base score of 5 were the highest performing computers available when Windows Vista was released.

I'll keep an eye on its performance all this week, and post back to the blow how it holds up under some fairly average specs.

The laptop has the following:

  • Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 1.80 GHz 1.79 GHz
  • RAM: 1023 MB RAM
  • Video: Mobility Radeon 9600/9700 64MB
  • Screen: 15.4" WXGA Color & Crystal Shine LCD
  • HardDrive: 100 GB, 5400 Rpm (Fujitsu MHV2100AH ATA)

I got this machine in late 2005 for about $2500 AUD. So its not to bad and has stood by me through thick and thin (It's actually one of the best laptops I've had, and I also own an Alienware Area 51M which got about a 3.8 rating with Windows Vista - I'd actually not advise an Alienware as they are over-hyped machines - At the time of purchase, it cost me around $4000 AUD).

You can find out more about Performance and Vista, through Jeff's blog (Yet to meet Jeff).

To view my Laptops Details via (shareyourscore.com) please click on the green button below.

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