What's with the netbooks all having 1GB ram and windows starter

[duxbuz]

Hiya

We have some old Vye netbooks.

They have 1gb ram and XP pro on them.

I am looking to replace a few, but all the current netbooks seem to have 1gb ram and windows 7 starter.

I am expecting the 1gb of ram to be inadequate, and am also wondering whether win 7 starter would even work on a domain.

anyone any knowledge on this?

I suppose the only thing is to upgrade the ram and OS, but i thought that they'd sell something of decent spec 5 years on.

Thanks.

[Michael]

You're right, Windows Starter will not connect to a domain.

Windows 7 will work with 1GB of memory, but slowly. Increasing to 2GB or more does help.

[Pottsey]

Starter edtions have no domain support. I would class 1gig as the minimum, not inadequate as it will work but not ideal.

[IrritableTech]

Also be aware that most Atom CPUs only support up to 2 gig of RAM.

[K.C.Leblanc]

You're right, Windows Starter will not connect to a domain.

If you're in one of the Microsoft licensing schemes you might well entitled to upgrade them to Pro or Enterprise.

[Millgate]

There are some Netbooks that come with 2gb but it's soooooo much more cost effective to by the standard 1gb and upgrade it. Either stick it in yourself or get us or your reseller to do it for you!

[gl3nnym]

Is it worth upgrading something of that spec to Win 7 Pro though? Netbooks are designed for low level work and to last on battery for a long period of time. Beefing up the RAM and OS seems a little counter productive.

[sted]

Is it worth upgrading something of that spec to Win 7 Pro though? Netbooks are designed for low level work and to last on battery for a long period of time. Beefing up the RAM and OS seems a little counter productive.

i doubt win7 starter vs win7 pro/ent will make much odds on battery life as its the same kernel just has some bits turned off

[K.C.Leblanc]

Is it worth upgrading something of that spec to Win 7 Pro though? Netbooks are designed for low level work and to last on battery for a long period of time. Beefing up the RAM and OS seems a little counter productive.

Well if you don't you can't put them on the domain and lock them down with GPOs.

We've got netbooks that aren't on the domain, and they've been used about 3 times (they're meant for stop frame animation ).

[dhicks]

I am looking to replace a few, but all the current netbooks seem to have 1gb ram and windows 7 starter.

How do you license Windows 7 in your school? Schools are often licensed such that as long as you have a machine with an OEM Windows license of some kind on it (Windows 7 or XP home is fine) then you can upgrade to Windows 7 Pro. Check your license. The 2GB RAM limit is sometimes listed as a hardware limit in the laptop's specifications but is actually a limit set by Windows 7 Starter - I have a netbook at home running Windows 7 with 4GB of RAM.