Which *one* to get for XP?

Discussion in 'Acer Aspire One' started by racingclub, Sep 28, 2008.

  1. racingclub

    racingclub

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    currently using an eee 4g with XP, and looking to upgrage to the AA1 to which I also want to install XP.

    My question is, do i get the 8gb SSD version, or the 120gb 'regular' drive? I see that people have probs installing XP onto the SSD?

    Thanks! :)
     
    racingclub, Sep 28, 2008
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  2. racingclub

    melhiore

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    Take 120GB HDD - is much easier to install full XP w/o any problems with available storage space. On top of that is much easier to have some stuff extra on AA1 w/o SD cards or Pendrive... For me there is no choice but standard HDD...
     
    melhiore, Sep 28, 2008
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  3. racingclub

    kevin

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    I would very strongly recommend that if you want to run XP on the AA1, you buy the AA1 with XP. It is suitably specified for it, and has all the proper drivers in place. From what I've seen around here, installing XP on the SSD version with 512Mb is a world of hurt.
     
    kevin, Sep 29, 2008
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  4. racingclub

    maciek

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    what having all proper drivers in place has to do with what already comes on the machine? there are xp drivers available on acer website so i don't see the point of paying extra just to get another xp licence if you already have one and can use it. I for example got linpus version and installed VISTA on my 120hdd because I had one I could use from MSAA and it works perfectly.
     
    maciek, Sep 29, 2008
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  5. racingclub

    kevin

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    Unless you happen to have unusued Windows licences lying around the place, buying the Windows AA1 is the _cheapest_ way to get Windows on an AA1.

    And even if you do have spare Windows licences, I think it's got to be quicker to buy the AA1 with Windows pre-installed. And that means it's cheaper unless you value your time at $0 per hour.
     
    kevin, Sep 29, 2008
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  6. racingclub

    RockDoctor

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    I recommend the 120GB HDD version with WInXP preinstalled. For $20 more than the 8GB SSD with Linpus Lite, you'll save yourself a lot of time and effort and have more storage space too.
     
    RockDoctor, Sep 29, 2008
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  7. racingclub

    kevin

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    That's exactly my point. If you can get Windows XP installed on a computer for $20, either you're cheating on your licence or you don't value your time. Or both.
     
    kevin, Sep 29, 2008
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  8. racingclub

    maciek

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    sorry but you're just telling rubbish. I don't value my time as nothing but if you're just above average in terms of technical skills installation of Windows is effortless. I do agree that value for money if you need windows is to buy aa1 with xp already on it but if you have a copy of windows to use THERE IS NO POINT paying extra. end of story.
     
    maciek, Sep 29, 2008
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  9. racingclub

    melhiore

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    To be honest @maciek is right. I value my time but I prefer to spend some for free to play with my hobby rather then buy another copy of WinXP OS...
     
    melhiore, Sep 29, 2008
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  10. racingclub

    dkaile

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    Go for the just launched 160GB model with original XP Home. I personally am using 120GB one with linux which I have upgraded to XP Prof SP3 absolutely no probs...
     
    dkaile, Sep 29, 2008
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  11. racingclub

    kevin

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    I can't think of many good reasons why you'd have a spare licence for Windows XP sitting around, if you are an ordinary home user. I mean, I'm sure it's possible, but I would bet my back teeth that most people who are talking about installing XP on their Linpus AA1 are really talking about making an illegal installation using a duplicate serial number or something.

    That, of course, is between them and their consciences. But I write software for a living, and I tend to regard illegal copying as stealing money out of my wallet. Of course theft is cheaper than honest toil -- isn't it always?

    And even if you do have a spare XP licence, it's got to take at least a couple of hours, surely, to install XP, particularly if you have to download drivers from Acer, etc. Are you really telling me that your time is worth less than ten bucks an hour? Don't you have kids to play with, or a movie to see, or a good book to read, or even a car to clean?

    I wonder how many people will end up on their death-beds croacking these last words: ``Oh, if only I'd spent more time with my computer!'.
     
    kevin, Sep 29, 2008
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  12. racingclub

    Shad0wguy

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    The only perk of getting the SSD version is that you don't have to worry if you drop the laptop or if it gets bounced around since the only moving part is the fan. Thats why I went for the SSD version, but I am using the default Linpus install.
     
    Shad0wguy, Sep 29, 2008
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  13. racingclub

    melhiore

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    True. I'm probably one of those who have 4 licences purely because there was good bargain in my favorite shop... I believe allegation about illegal software are not nice when you can not prove it.

    And believe me will be much better if you leave it this way before starting another flame war about legal or illegal ways of gaining Windows.

    We're not talking about your wallet TBH... And I believe we thing differently about software I paid for - it's mine and I can do whatever I want with my stuff...

    As I said before. It's hobby. I like it. Most people do. I believe spending some time with PC is not the end of the world - it is fun, good fun...

    I agree in this matter. At the end of my life I would rather say: Oh God I'm going to Hell, I was really bad boy all my life and I deserved for this...
     
    melhiore, Sep 29, 2008
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  14. racingclub

    racingclub

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    well thanks for all the 'friendly' advice. I have plenty of XP licences available, so I may as well save some cash and go for the 120gb Linpus version...
     
    racingclub, Sep 29, 2008
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  15. racingclub

    maciek

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    no point repeating what has already been said

    but...
    if windows installation takes you couple of hours then you probably have never done it yourself... have you?
    first it takes at absolute maximum 1.5h on a very slow machine, usually sub 45min on a modern machine plus you don't really need to sit down and look at the screen all that time, go have a cup of coffee, read a book and every now and then just have a look at your computer if it requires your attention... thats it to be honest... not that scary...
     
    maciek, Sep 30, 2008
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  16. racingclub

    kevin

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    Microsoft Windows isn't `your stuff'. It belongs to the Microsoft Corporation. In the free world we have this idea called `property'. It's possible to envisage a society that doesn't, but we haven't seen one so far where they people didn't have to build a wall around it to keep people in. The fact that it has no tangible presence doesn't stop it being somebody's property.

    I write software for a living, and I do that because society guarantess by law my right to use my property as I see fit. If society did not do this, I would get a job as a plumber or a carpenter or something. But, for now, society says `you have a right to make money by writing software, and we will treat as criminals anybody who tries to take that right away'.

    A time may come when the concept of intellectual property because so degraded that nobody can make any money writing it. When that happens, the only recourse to prevent the collapse of the IT industry will be for governments to nationalise it. Whether that is good or bad can be argued either way, but it will certainly the end of private enterprise in IT.

    Despite what you say, making unlawful copies of Windows does amount to a hit on my wallet -- because I paid for my copy, so indirectly I paid a contribution for everybody who made an unlawful copy.

    This isn't meant to be a personal attack on anybody and, quite frankly, if there is a moral highground anywhere, it's a hell of a way from where I'm standing. I'm as dissolute as the next guy. But I'm particularly chary about software piracy -- not because it's immoral and unlawful (although we all know it is), but because of all the banal, tawdry, weak excuses people make to try to justify it to themselves. It people who did it just said `I want something for nothing, so screw you!' they would get a lot more respect in my estimation.
     
    kevin, Sep 30, 2008
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  17. racingclub

    kevin

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    Nope. And I don't plan to start now. Since just about every PC you can buy comes with Windows pre-installed (apart from the marvellous Linpus AA1 :) ) I don't see why I should waste my time doing something that I've already paid the vendor to do. I've certainly uninstalled Windows enough times, which is about as far as my interest in it extends.

    If I had to install Windows it wouldn't take a couple of hours -- more like a couple of weeks.

    But even if it took one hour, and I could get it done by an expert for $20, I probably would. For the same reason that I pay somebody to service my car even though I probably could do it myself. Life is full of pointless, dull chores already. I don't want to add to the list unnecessarily.

    But if installing operating systems floats your boat, good on you.
     
    kevin, Sep 30, 2008
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  18. racingclub

    melhiore

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    Still it's not your business what I'm doing with my copy of XP. I ask you to leave this as it is. You can not fix the World with your ideas... Charge me for using illegal software or stop in this point...

    Man you can not fix the world. If you're planning to do so you just lost before you start. As I said before - that's your vision of surrounding world...

    End of story for me - this conversation is leading to nowhere...
     
    melhiore, Sep 30, 2008
    #18
  19. racingclub

    kevin

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    But it is my business. It's very much my business, just as it is your business whether I abide by the law or not. No man is an island, and all that.

    If you are using unlawful copies of XP (and I'm not saying you are -- how should I know?) then I have paid for your copy as well as mine. How can that not be my business? I'm just an ordinary working man with a family to feed and a mortgage loan to pay off. There isn't a family fortune waiting for me to inherit somewhere. It hurts me to pay more for stuff because other people are paying nothing. It's not just software, or even media -- whenever we shop we carry the cost of shoplifting; when we pay our taxes we carry the cost of people who avoid paying. And so on.

    And, no, I don't suppose I can change the world. It might be easier if I were a paragon of virtue myself, but I'm not. I freely admit that I have made bootleg copies of software. I've certainly broken the law -- in the UK it is almost certainly unlawful even to make copies of the music on CDs you've bought, and I do that all the time. And I very much doubt that a bit of software bootlegging is the worst thing I shall have to answer to on Judgement Day :/

    But although I can't change the world, what I can do, or try to do, is to dispel the idea that software piracy is some sort of `victimless crime'. Ordinary people, people like you and me, are harmed by it. Of course, each individual act of piracy isn't hugely harmful in itself; but it goes on on such an enormous scale that, cummulatively, the damage done must surely be considerable.

    Well, anyway, somebody has to say something -- even if no-one is listening.
     
    kevin, Sep 30, 2008
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  20. racingclub

    dkaile

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    seems like no ones listening...
     
    dkaile, Sep 30, 2008
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