Liking Vista So Far (But It Does Have its Glitches)

So I went ahead and got myself a Compaq Presario B1256TU notebook computer for use as my mobile workstation. The retail package did not include an operating system (that’s why it’s relatively cheaper), and so while paying I was thinking whether to:

• Install Ubuntu Linux as my primary OS,
• Install a bootlegged copy of Windows XP or Vista.
• Purchase an original copy of Windows Vista.

A new copy of Windows XP was out of the question, since in my mind this is already a dated OS. Sure, it’s more reliable than ever, given the seven or so years since its first release. But seven years? That’s old!

Ubuntu, meanwhile, is cool, but sometimes I still find the need to run Windows apps that simply cannot run on Wine. So this could perhaps be a hobby OS. I do run eeeXubuntu on my Asus Eee, though. And so my wife and I decided to go for Vista, so we can have some exposure to some new OS at home.

And so we bought a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium to go along with the laptop. The shop gave us a discount with an OEM package (I wonder if it’s legal to bundle a separate OEM package with a laptop sale, though). I also asked for a copy of the HP-Compaq drivers for the B1256TU, as I also read that while drivers are available from the HP site downloading can take some time.

Our home is now a multi-platform one, with a Mac that runs OS X Tiger, a notebook that dual-boots Windows XP and Ubuntu Feisty (due for upgrade soon), an Asus Eee that runs eeeXubuntu, and this new Presario that now runs Vista.

The Compaq came packaged with 1GB of memory, though, and from what I’ve read 1GB is inadequate for use with Vista. But the first few days I was using the laptop, it was responsive enough. I noticed a significant improvement when I plugged in a 4GB SDHC into the built-in card reader for use with ReadyBoost, which basically uses flash memory as cache. This is faster than having to access virtual memory from the hard drive, whenever physical RAM runs out.

But then I was planning to use this machine for photo manipulation and some video editing. So I replaced one of the 512MB RAM sticks with a 1GB one (not able to find a 2GB stick yet, and because the sales person mistakenly told me that Pentium Dual Core machines only supported up to 2GB RAM). Some improvement. And when I found a 2GB stick cheap enough (PhP 2,000 flat for a Kingston branded one), the laptop now runs on 3GB. Good thing I didn’t go for two 2GB sticks. I read you needed to run the 64-bit version of Vista to fully harness the extra gig. So it’s effectively a 3GB maximum for me!

The eye candy that comes default with Vista Home Premium (which Home Basic does not have) is both functional and aesthetically-pleasing. I’m a fan of OS X’s Expose, and Compiz Fusion’s scale, which make switching windows easy and intuitive. Vista doesn’t have that, but instead has Flip 3D. It’s not as intuitive as Expose, since you don’t get a full view of Windows thumbnails (just the top left edges), but it does its job fine.

SpeedStep Problem on Windows Vista

My only gripe with Vista so far is that it’s not able to adequately make Intel Speedstep work! I was wondering why the laptop got hot at the bottom, and the battery lasted only one hour. The Intel T2370 processor the B1200TU ran with was supposed to have SpeedStep. That meant the processor could run at low clock speeds when it didn’t need power, and could step up the speed (and voltage) when performance processing was needed. This translated to cooler operation and power savings.

And so I installed various CPU monitoring apps like CPU-Z and RightMark CPU Clock, and they all showed that the CPU speed was hovering somewhere between 1.72 and 1.73 GHz — hardly SpeedStep-like adjustments.

So I did some research and found out that a lot of other Windows Vista users had problems with SpeedStep on Intel dual core processors. These users had no problems with SpeedStep on XP or most Linux distros on the same machines, but Vista was simply unable to control SpeedStep. It’s a pity, since Vista does have a built-in way to define the speed ranges you wanted your processor to run on.

This was a really big speedbump in my book. Having the processor cores run at full speed all the time meant fast battery draining and a hot laptop, much like using Celeron-M processors.

With much tweaking, I discovered that on the Compaq B1256TU, the Processor will SpeedStep properly after waking from sleep. So after a cold boot, SpeedStep doesn’t work. After resume from hibernation, SpeedStep doesn’t work. It will only work after the computer has been awoken from standby state.

If you have a Pentium Dual Core machine running on Windows Vista, you can verify this by using CPU-Z or RM Clock. You can monitor the processor frequency adjusting from 0.7 GHz to 1.73 GHz according to CPU load. If you want to be able to customize this (such as by under-volting, or specifying which P-states or frequencies to use), you can use the “performance on demand” setting of RMClock.

Actually, this serves as a warning to people running Vista on their laptops. I know a few people whose laptops have been overheating for no apparent reason. I’ve even read reports that the Presario B1256TU was running at abnormally high temperatures out of the box. Now I know: it’s most likely that SpeedStep is not running properly. So this means the processor is always at full speed, and depending on the load, this likely causes high temperatures.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with Vista?

As for the notebook, I’ll post a more in-depth review soon. I paid in cash, btw, so I got it for less than the published PhP 35,950 price. With Vista Home Premium included, I paid just a bit over PhP 40k.