[Desdinova]

I am currently using HP Pavillion DV9260US notebook. it is Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology featuring Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200; 2.0GHz, Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit os, 2048MB DDR2 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 256MB (i wanted the 512MB version but it was not yet available except as a special order), 240GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive Dual HDD - 120GB x 2(SATA), HD DVD ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer. (I had hoped to avoid the whole blue-ray/HD dvd thing but the bastiches snuck this in on me. They also provided a HDdvd to go along with it, it was a verion of a movie i already had on regular dvd. so i got to see the difference, sneaky bastiches - LOL)

I wasnt really happy about getting Vista at the time but as my previous notebook was just about dead i didnt have much choice. At first it was more of a pain than it was worth (i couldnt even get SE:V to play) i lost internet connectivity on a regular basis and my options for video were very limited (i have a Dell 2405 24inch monitor and could not even get it to run any higher than 1024x768). Then there was the whole having to learn the new interface and where did (insert choice of insults here) MS put all the items i was used to.

MS has since released several patches and i no longer have the problems i did. I can play SE:V with hardly any lag, until later in the game, but whether that is due to the patches from MS or MM i do not know (I play on maps with 50-100 systems and btwn 12-19 races. once lag gets to be a problem i just shut down SE:V and restart and i am good to go again. I have not tried re-enabling multithread yet so not sure if it will help or not, but at first SE:V ran horribly with it activated in settings.txt). I can now run my monitor in 1900x1200 resolution.

as for other apps nearly everything i have is still 32-bit versions from before i upgraded so i dont know how well support is for the 64-bit ones. i am currently using a trial version of 3DS Max 9 with the Vista 64 bit patch and it is smooth. (i plan on buying the full version once i get enrolled in school, there is a rather nice discount for students $750 vs $4000+)

edit: my old laptop was also dying of a video card overheating problem. it was a step back in speed for me as i was also at 3.4 GHz and am now down to 2.0 GHz but i havent really noticed the difference very much.