Why You Should Keep Your Old Retro PC Running Windows XP, Vista or 7

 

(Source: Youtube)

If you're a nostalgic computer enthusiast or simply prefer the familiar interface of older Windows versions, there's no need to switch to Linux just yet. Running legacy operating systems like Windows XP, Vista, or 7 on retro hardware can be a perfectly viable option, provided you take the necessary precautions.

Preserving the Nostalgic Experience 

For many retro computing fans, the appeal of older Windows versions lies in the nostalgic experience they provide. The classic start menus, iconic UI elements, and overall aesthetic of Windows XP or Vista can transport you back to a simpler time when computing was less complicated. Embracing this nostalgia is a big part of the retro computing hobby, and Linux, while highly capable, may not quite capture the same essence.

Compatibility with Legacy Software and Games 

Another significant advantage of sticking with older Windows installations is compatibility with legacy software and games. Many older applications and titles were designed specifically for Windows XP or Vista and may not run properly or at all on more modern operating systems or Linux distributions. By keeping your retro PC on its original OS, you can ensure seamless compatibility with your favorite classic programs and games.

Safe Computing with Cautions

While it's true that older Windows versions are no longer officially supported by Microsoft, this doesn't necessarily mean they're inherently unsafe to use. With proper precautions and a reliable antivirus solution, you can mitigate many of the potential security risks associated with running an unsupported OS.

Limit your retro PC's internet exposure, keep your antivirus definitions up-to-date, and exercise caution when downloading or installing any new software. Additionally, disabling unnecessary services and applying any available security patches can further enhance the safety of your retro computing experience.

Community Support and Resources 

Despite being legacy operating systems, Windows XP, Vista, and 7 still have active online communities dedicated to their preservation and continued use. These communities offer valuable resources, such as guides, tweaks, and even unofficial security updates, ensuring your retro computing journey remains enjoyable and secure.

Embrace the Retro Hobbies

Ultimately, the decision to keep your retro PC running an older Windows version comes down to personal preference and a willingness to embrace the retro computing spirit fully. While Linux distributions offer modern features and security, they may not provide the authentic nostalgic experience that many retro enthusiasts crave.

If you approach retro computing with caution, keeping your system secure with antivirus software and limiting its exposure to potential threats, there's no reason why you can't continue enjoying the classic Windows experience on your beloved retro hardware.

How to maximize the performance of your old PCs and Laptops

We're all guilty of holding onto our faithful laptop or desktop PC for years longer than we probably should. But just because the latest specs have long since passed your machine by, that doesn't mean it's ready for the scrapheap. With some reasonably affordable upgrades and maintenance, you can give an aging system a serious shot of new life.

 

(Source: Backblaze)

Replace That Sluggish HDD 

With a Snappy SSD One of the best and most impactful upgrades you can make is swapping out the old-school spinning hard disk drive for a modern solid state drive (SSD). SSDs use fast flash memory that absolutely demolishes HDDs in most real-world usage scenarios involving file transfers and application load times.

A SATA SSD upgrade can often be had for under $100 these days for a 500GB-1TB model - a small price to pay for such a massive performance boost. Just make sure you've got an mSATA or M.2 slot if your system supports those compact SSDs natively, if not, you can buy a regular SATA version.

 

(Source: Ifixit)

Double the RAM 

Speaking of giving your system some breathing room, maxing out the memory is also a wise upgrade if you're stuck on just 4GB or 8GB of RAM from years ago. Anything over 8GB tends to provide a smoother, more fluid experience when multitasking or running memory-intensive applications.

RAM pricing can fluctuate but you can usually find decent 16GB DDR4 SODIMM kits for under $60-80. For a desktop system, you can easily double up to 32GB of RAM or more if the motherboard supports it. Just be sure to check your system's maximum supported memory speed and capacity.

 

(Source: Forbes)

Deep Clean the Dust

While upgrades are all well and good, some basic maintenance and cleaning can also work wonders. Over time, vents and heatsinks inside laptops and PCs get clogged with dust and grime which impedes proper cooling. This can cause increased fan noise, heat buildup, and throttling issues.

Taking the system apart to clean out fans, heatsinks, and air passages is tedious work, but well worth the effort. Using compressed air, soft brushes, and thermal paste replacement can easily knock off 10°C+ from CPU/GPU temperatures for quieter operation and better sustained performance.

 

Refresh With a Clean OS Install (LTSC Recommended)

Finally, something as simple as a fresh operating system install can make an old PC feel brand new. Years of software bloating, cruft build-up, and registry entries can steadily degrade performance over time. But starting with a clean slate can restore that snappy, out-of-the-box feel.

For best results, completely back up your data then reload the OS from scratch rather than upgrading directly. Consider trying out a lightweight Linux distribution like Linux Mint if your hardware is getting really long in the tooth. Its leaner system requirements help breathe new life into aging machines.

With some smart, cost-effective upgrades and maintenance, your trusty old laptop or desktop can easily gain a few more years of relevance. Or at the very least, serve as a decent stopgap until you've saved up for a proper modern replacement. Just don't settle for sluggishness - put in a bit of effort and your system will reward you with renewed zippy performance.

Affordable secondhand Laptop: ASUS A455L Review

 College students are always on the hunt for affordable yet capable laptops to get them through years of study. While not the latest or greatest, secondhand and older models can provide decent performance if you know what to look for. The ASUS A455L packing an Intel Core i3-4005U processor and Nvidia GeForce 930M graphics is one such option worth considering for its mix of productivity and light multimedia abilities.

Asus A455L

The Core i3-4005U is a 4th gen dual-core CPU released back in 2014. While clearly showing its age compared to modern laptop chips, it still has enough horsepower to handle typical productivity workloads like writing papers, browsing the web, streaming video lectures, and basic photo editing. You can even get away with light multitasking across these apps without too much slowdown.

Where the A455L really shines for students is its dedicated Nvidia 930M GPU. While entry-level, this discrete graphics solution allows for vastly better performance in GPU-accelerated apps and games compared to relying on integrated graphics alone. You can comfortably run older titles like CS:GO, Dota 2, and Rocket League at 1080p medium-high settings and still maintain smooth frame rates.

The 930M can also accelerate GPU-accelerated applications like Adobe Premiere for basic video editing tasks. This can make the A455L a capable multimedia machine for its age and price point. Just don't expect to be rendering 4K video or playing the latest AAA games at high quality.

Other specs like 8GB of RAM and a 1TB 5400RPM hard drive are typical for an old system like this. They're far from impressive now, but perfectly adequate for basic productivity use cases. The 14-inch 1366x768 glossy display is also nice with good enough brightness and colors, though viewing angles are relatively poor.

Where the A455L does show its age is in its chunky, dated design aesthetic. At nearly an inch thick and weighing 5lbs, it's a slightly thick laptop that will feel heavy compared to modern Ultrabooks. Its all-plastic construction also gives it a slightly cheaper feel, despite being reasonably durable overall. I/O is acceptable with USB 3.0, HDMI, LAN, and an SD card reader.

The biggest trade-off for the performance you get is battery life. With a smallish 33Whr battery powering dated yet power-hungry components, you'll be lucky to get 3 hours of real-world use between charges for typical productivity workflows.

Overall, if you can look past the ageing design and mediocre battery life, the ASUS A455L offers great bang for your buck as an affordable secondhand option for college. The Core i3/930M combo provides enough performance to power through coursework while enabling some casual gaming and multimedia editing in your downtime - not something every budget laptop can claim. Just don't go in expecting it to be as fast or efficient as today's latest models.

AMD VISION Processors: Pick Your Performance Level

With so many processors, graphics chips, and laptop configurations out there, it can be daunting for average consumers to figure out what kind of performance they're getting when purchasing a new notebook. AMD aims to simplify this with their VISION branding, which denotes specific usage scenarios and capabilities.

At its core, AMD VISION is a set of platform specifications combining an AMD processor and graphics solution to deliver a well-rounded computing experience optimized for different tasks like media, gaming, and general productivity.

AMD Vision Tier

There are four tiers to make sense of - VISION, VISION Premium, VISION Ultimate, and the new top-end VISION Black:

AMD VISION 

The base VISION standard is designed for basic day-to-day use like web browsing, office applications, media playback, and lightweight multitasking. You'll find AMD VISION laptops running on cost-effective processors like the E-Series APUs, with integrated graphics suitable for video decoding and older game titles.

AMD VISION Premium 

Step up to VISION Premium for a snappier, more responsive experience with resource-intensive applications like video editing and mainstream gaming. These notebooks come equipped with faster CPUs like AMD's A-Series Accelerated Processing Units that combine powerful x86 cores and robust Radeon graphics on a single chip.

AMD VISION Ultimate 

For those who demand top performance for the latest games, high-definition content creation, and serious multitasking, there's VISION Ultimate. You'll find discrete graphics cards paired with AMD's fastest mobile processors. High RAM capacities and storage options like SSDs are also common.

AMD VISION Black (New for 2012) 

Unveiled just recently, the VISION Black designation is AMD's new ultra-enthusiast platform aimed at heavy multimedia editing, hardcore gaming, and other extremely demanding workloads. It combines AMD's top-tier mobile processors with powerful discrete Radeon HD 7000M series graphics and premium components like solid-state drives and Blu-ray drives.

In addition to setting performance targets, AMD VISION laptops must meet certain Display, Video, Data Transfer, and Power Management criteria for each tier. This ensures a consistently great multimedia experience with smooth HD video playback, fast file transfers, and strong battery life when you need it.

With VISION taking the guesswork out of laptop shopping, AMD hopes to attract consumers looking for rich multimedia performance packed in an affordable and easy-to-understand platform. The new VISION Black brand in particular shows AMD isn't pulling any punches against Intel in the high-end mobile arena this year.

So whether you're a mainstream user, a gamer, or a multimedia professional, one of AMD's VISION tiers should have you covered without confusing spec sheet math. Just pick the brand that fits your needs and budget, and enjoy a finely tuned experience out of the box.

Toshiba C655D-S5130 Review: Affordable AMD E-Series Brings Mixed Performance

Toshiba C655D-S5130 (Source: Notebookcheck)

Budget laptops have been getting better and more affordable lately, allowing cash-strapped consumers to enjoy decent computing power without breaking the bank. Toshiba's new C655D-S5130 aims squarely at the value-oriented market, packing an AMD E-240 processor and integrated Radeon graphics.

The E-240 is a dual-core chip based on AMD's Zacate architecture, clocked at 1.5GHz. While not a performance powerhouse by any means, it does provide a welcome boost over the aging single-core Atom netbook CPUs still found on some budget models.

In use, the E-240 handles basic productivity tasks like web browsing, document editing, media playback and light multitasking reasonably well. The integrated Radeon HD 6310 graphics also allow for some casual gaming and hardware acceleration of video decoding.

However, you'll quickly feel the system's limitations under any serious workloads. Booting up and switching between applications can feel sluggish due to the modest 2GB DDR3 RAM. The 5400RPM 320GB hard drive is also painfully slow compared to an SSD.

Gaming is a mixed bag - older and less demanding 3D titles from a few years ago like World of Warcraft and Left 4 Dead 2 can run acceptably at low settings. But you'll struggle with anything too graphically intensive released in the past couple of years.

The 15.6" 1366x768 LED display offers decent image quality and viewing angles for the price bracket. But it's nothing to write home about, with limited brightness and washed out colors compared to premium panels.

Build quality is plasticky but reasonably solid for a budget offering. Toshiba has opted for an inoffensive design with a textured black finish that doesn't look too cheap. The chiclet keyboard has decent tactile feel, though the touchpad can feel a bit sticky at times.

Battery life is about 3-4 hours with fairly conservative usage - not amazing, but par for the course given the E-240's power efficiency limitations compared to AMD's latest APUs.

At the end of the day, the Toshiba C655D hits the value proposition it's aiming for - delivering acceptable performance for basic home/office use at an attractively low price of $400-500. Just don't expect a speed demon and you'll likely walk away satisfied if your needs are modest. For more demanding users, stepping up to a Core i3 or AMD A-series APU system would be advisable.