Just my two cents.
If you are going to be using the system primarily for programming, why would you even want to bother with Vista at all? From all the press releases that I've seen, Vista doesn't offer programmers anything more than XP does (actually... from experience, XP doesn't even offer anything more than 2000 does). In my programming classes, having a computer with the least amount of bling, the smallest amount of boot time (keep in mind that you might have to reboot your system frequently if you are working with code that could crash your machine), and the least amount of bloatware and background processes offered me the best performance in class. Now if you are interested in having the coolest machine in class, your speed on compile and run times will take a severe hit. Actually, having a lean, fast machine is always the best choice for a machine that you take to class. There is nothing worse than having a machine crash in the middle of a note-taking session and having to wait two minutes for the machine to finish loading back up.
Other things of note from experience in classes:
- Make sure that you have a nice selection of music on your computer and bring a set of headphones when you go to class. There are times when classrooms become free-for-alls. I get easily distracted, so I would never have gotten work done during some classes if I didn't have the ability to drown everyone out with my music.
- Laptops get very hot after extended use. The faster you drain your battery and the more often you access your harddrive, the hotter your laptop will become. Thus, most games quickly turn your laptop into a portable furnace. Most laptops will not overheat unless you block your fan air intakes and exhausts. Never run a laptop on carpets or bedding. As much as possible, place your laptop on a flat, table-like surface and pop out the feet in the back to improve ventilation.
