Buying a Laptop - Need some advice
 

It's been a while since I looked into buying a new system. We're in the process of replacing our computers and this is going to be the first purchase.

Right now we're considering a Sony Vaio from newegg.com:
-$899.99
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz
-4GB DDR2 RAM
-ATI Graphics 512MB
-Vista 64 bit version
-250GB HDD
16.4" Screen with 1600x900 resolution

Some things I am concerned about;
-I want this to last a while. 2.26 doesn't seem that great to me. Is that going to be a problem down the road? Anyway to upgrade?
-I want to ditch vista immediately especially cause its 64bit. Ideally we want to overwrite it with my Windows 98 disc and then install my XP upgrade. Is that even possible?
-The RAM is totally fine, but I dont even know if its possible to upgrade RAM on a Laptop for future needs. Is it?
-Last item; Do YOU personally know of any good Black Friday deals I should check out tomorrow morning?

It's a nice little machine, except for the processor. I'd personally go 3.0 or more GHz if at all possible. Like the network card, though. It's not often you get anything with 802.11a these days, as rarely as it's used.

That said, the RAM will be hard to upgrade due to the fact that it's already probably maxed at 2x2GB. On top of that, XP needs a patch to handle over 3GB. Otherwise, most laptop RAM is a no-brainer to access. There should be a panel on the bottom. The processor is a no-go for upgrade, to the best of my knowledge.

As for your OS situation, it's probably possible to do that. However, I'd recommend doing a dual-boot at the moment. 64-bit could really be a nice feature, depending on what you're doing with it. It makes emulating PS2 games a lot less painful, if that would interest you. I've personally fought with Vista on a lot and have pretty much won on everything that matters, and would not be above offering some help in the matter to get you decent control over your system.

Basically with laptops you can't upgrade anything besides RAM. There are exceptions but I can't imagine that Sony would be one of them. I assure you that a 2.26 centrino duo is totally super-duper fast to the maxxx. (3.0, blues? Can you even get a 3.0 processor in a laptop?)

Like I said, RAM is about the only thing you can upgrade on a laptop. Although using anything more than it already comes with would require... using 64-bit Windows >.<

General notes:

- that's the weirdest aspect ratio I've ever seen on a laptop. Won't really matter or anything, just saying.

- try and track one down in a store if you can and poke at it a bit before you lay money down. With a laptop specs can almost be less important than whether using the thing just annoys the shit out of you for whatever reason. It's a Vaio and they have decent build quality from what I've seen ("decent" = "poor man's Macbook" but this is kind of like how Lexus is the poor-man's BMW) but it doesn't hurt to be sure. PROTIP: Newegg doesn't do returns on laptops, ever at all for any reason, so be really fucking sure before you pull the trigger.

Nikose or Chucks will probably be along to answer your OS questions. I will say if nothing else, maybe call Sony or check their website and see if the machine comes with a downgrade CD for switching to 32-bit Vista (some 64-bit packages do but it varies by manufacturer), which isn't too bad after you switch off most of the stuff that makes it sucktacular.

3.06ghz is like the highest duocore number you're getting.

There's like, in the past few months, laptops that can now have like 2.5---ghz Quad Core super ultra yaaay! processors.

Yeah if I could hit the 3.0 cpu range I'm in the market for a Mac Pro anyway sine we'd be looking at a similar price tag. You know you can customize that thing up to something like a $15,000 price tag? Thats got like 4 Intel Quad Core processors running & a bazillion Hard Drives.

Oh god and it hurts so bad I just want it why can't I have it :(

But in all seriousness, unless you plan on the laptop being your actual computer everywhere and not just on the go, then your current setup will be fine. If you want a laptop than you can go and play new games on, the processor isn't really a huge deal. On my old laptop, I skirted by "2.3 ghz" minimum requirements with 1.64ghz processor. The big thing you're looking at is the vid card and RAM, mostly the card though.

My current laptop has a GeForce 8800 and like a 2.6 ghz processor and I can play Crysis moderately on it. Usually you'll see different vidcards from the one I'm using because they run cooler, which is much more important on laptops because of their severe airflow problems and their likelihood of being used in warmer places like, say, outside or somesuch.

So if you want a laptop that can do some srs gamingz at home then don't skimp on the high performance vidcards even if they run hot, because you probably won't be using much of it on the go anyhow. Just get one of those little red fans and place it next to the vent closest to your vidcard to keep it at a nice temperature.

or hey go spend 15K. :>

Come to think of it, it would help if you'd give us a picture of exactly what you are planning to use this thing for.

Gaming, maybe some graphic design & sound recording. It's really gonna be for Tiff & sort of just general use, but I'll be making use of it until I can rob a bank afford a Mac Pro.

Y'know, thinking about it right now, maybe not? I kinda opened my mouth in desktop-spec mode, and I'm really not sure at the moment. :sweatdrop

You can get pretty darn close. You can get a 2.8 Core 2 Duo (Isn't that 4 processors?) which is pretty amazing compared to all the other laptops on the market at the moment. It doesn't come cheap though...

EDIT: No it's only 2 processors.