which version of windows 7 for laptop

[rob123]

i have a toshiba satellite L350D


model PSLE8C - 03F019. it has AMD ATHLON X2 Dual core QL-60
4.00 gb ram
ati radeon 3100 graphics

and unfortunately vista is the operating system.
i want to upgrade to windows 7.

the upgrade advisor tells me that it can take windows 7 ultimate 64 bit version. i find that hard to believe seeing the low graphics card.

perhaps one of the lesser versions?

[Zero82z]

It can handle any version. The graphical requirements don't change between different versions other than the basic ones that don't use Aero. However, integrated 3100 graphics are perfectly adequate for Windows 7.

[LarkStarr]

long story short: it doesn't matter from a performance standpoint.

DAMN YOU NINJAAAAAAAAAA!

[sswilson]

Based on some discussions I've had with SKYMTL, I'd suggest you do some heavy research WRT battery life + win7 on your particular model. There apparently is an issue upgrading to windows7 with some laptops that didn't initially ship with Win7. Best I can figure is that the power saving/battery life reporting feature of win7 writes something to the firmware of some laptop batteries which actually trashes the battery (even new replacement ones), and within a couple of weeks has their life down to something like 20% at best.

I'd personally be very leery about upgrading a laptop to win7 unless I could find definitive proof that the particular laptop doesn't have that problem.

edit: This would be a good place to start.... I know it was an eye opener when I (quickly) had a look at what SKYMTL was talking about........

windows 7 laptop battery problem - Google Search=

[Sagath]

[citation needed]

Originally Posted by sswilson

Based on some discussions I've had with SKYMTL, I'd suggest you do some heavy research WRT battery life + win7 on your particular model. There apparently is an issue upgrading to windows7 with some laptops that didn't initially ship with Win7. Best I can figure is that the power saving/battery life reporting feature of win7 writes something to the firmware of some laptop batteries which actually trashes the battery (even new replacement ones), and within a couple of weeks has their life down to something like 20% at best.

I'd personally be very leery about upgrading a laptop to win7 unless I could find definitive proof that the particular laptop doesn't have that problem.

[sswilson]

Google link added......... ;)

It wasn't an issue I looked all that deeply into as I wasn't looking to update a laptop at the time, but I was surprised at the amount of information/complaints there were about an issue I'd heard absolutely nothing about.

[Sagath]

Yeah, my comment wasnt meant to be confrontational. This was the first I had heard of it, and Im honestly interested to learn more. Thanks for the info.

I shall return after researching!

[sswilson]

My understanding is that the latest "best guess" is that it's a bios/firmware issue of some form.

[rob123]

thanks very much for the heads up. i will definitely not do the switch until the issue is solved. bad as it is, vista is better than nothing,

thx again

rob123

[sswilson]

It doesn't affect all laptops so it's possible that yours is not one of the models that's involved. I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of the possible issue so that you could verifiy if your particular laptop plays nice in the sandbox with win7.

I certainly wouldn't want to be accused of discouraging folks from upgrading away from Vista...... ;)