Windows XP vs VistaMicrosoft asserts that you should experience faster boot times and quicker resumes from standby when running Vista. Our testing showed noticeably faster boot and resume times with the clean install of Vista on the ASUS, compared with its XP performance. The Dell, on the other hand, saw longer boot times and no noticeable improvement in its resume times on Vista.
ASUS W7J Cold-boot and resume times (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Out-of-standby time
8
9
5
Cold-boot time
104
95
41
Dell XPS M1710 cold-boot and resume times (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Out-of-standby time
5
5
4
Cold-boot time
32
42
36
Battery life We noticed a significant drop in battery life when we moved from XP to Vista on our DVD battery drain tests. The biggest difference was on the ASUS where battery life with the Vista upgrade was almost 40 minutes less than with XP. The gap was a more modest 15 minutes when comparing XP with the clean install of Vista. We saw a small drop in battery life on the Dell going from XP to Vista, but no significant difference between the clean install of Vista and the upgrade. The shorter battery life with Vista is most likely a byproduct of its more intense Aero Glass graphics engine. ASUS W7J DVD battery drain (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
DVD battery drain
118
79
103
Dell XPS M1710 DVD battery drain (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
DVD battery drain
141
124
126
Gaming Gaming performance also took a noticeable hit with Vista on our laptops when compared with XP. Mind you, scoring 67.5 frames per second on Quake 4 at a resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 on a laptop--as the Dell did--is still respectable. But this was still 13.3fps slower than on the same laptop with XP. With a lower-end graphics engine in the ASUS, the ASUS' frame rate at 1,024 x 768 on Vista plummeted to 13.2fps, less than half of the 38.5fps the system achieved with XP. That's the difference between a game that you can actually play and one that you can't, at least not enjoyably. For both laptops, we saw the same level of gaming performance with the clean install of Vista as we did with the Vista upgrade. ASUS W7J Quake 4 test (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
1,024 x 768
38.5
13.4
13.2
Dell XPS M1710 Quake 4 test (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
1,600 x 1,200
80.8
67.5
67.6
1,280 x 1,024
94.2
78.4
79.1
1,024 x 768
98.2
84.1
84.8
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