WEI - Is it worth the bother?

[hybridfan]

Yeah guys unless your hard drive is a SSD it will let your system down

 

[fseal]

See I think that's the problem.

You don't buy to improve the score itself. I mean I don't even understand where that would even come from.

But if you want to buy a high performance system, the WEI will tell you if it has the stuff or not. A system with a HD score of 7.4 over one of 5.9 is a TREMENDOUS improvement in day to day performance, a 3d graphics score pof 3.0 or 7.9 is going to make a huge difference in how well it plays modern games. A lot of people (read 99.9% of all computer buyers) don't have time to research the intricasies of all the hardware. Nor can you install or run riva tuner on a machine at frys before buying it.

The WEI at-a-glance gives you a decent rank compared to other machines W7 is installed on and IS something you can ususaly get to on a show floor.

As for a sales tool, I think that in most all cases the WEI is an anti-sales tool. I've virtually never seen it advertised because it puts the lie to the NORMAL sales talk. I.e. the WEI cuts through the BS ususaly associated with shadey elctronic equipment sales practices. Maybe Alienware or something uses it on the very top end systems but that's an abberation.

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah, it's kind of a backscratch for the hardware community. I imagine tens of millions of dollars have been spent on HD, RAM, and video card updates by a lot of people who are feeling inferior due to their WEI--when they would never have upgraded a lick in the absence of the tool.

Hmmm... I might need to get that SSD drive so my score can go up

An SSD will give you better than 7.0 - but I don't think you want to buy an SSD for that reason. There are better arguments for it.

I was being sarcastic :sarc:

Besides I can't justify the money for the capacity of the drives. And that's a debate for another thread

 

[whs]

Besides I can't justify the money for the capacity of the drives

A 30GB drive for $89 would be sufficient for Windows7. Mine has never exceeded 17GB used space. But that would give you the full speed benefits. Keep looking at Newegg - they have sales all the time.

 

[Petey7]

Personally, $90 for a 30GB drive sounds horrible to me. I could buy a new 80GB WD 5200rpm drive from newegg for $35. I have no doubt that it would speed things up a bit, but I think I'll wait. I know its not a fad, or something that will be replaced with something better soon. I just figure I can wait a couple more years, then buy a new laptop with one already installed and probably Windows 8. By then they will probably cost what HDDs cost a couple years ago.

EDIT: 100th post!

 

[CarlTR6]

Personally, $90 for a 30GB drive sounds horrible to me. I could buy a new 80GB WD 5200rpm drive from newegg for $35. I have no doubt that it would speed things up a bit, but I think I'll wait. I know its not a fad, or something that will be replaced with something better soon. I just figure I can wait a couple more years, then buy a new laptop with one already installed and probably Windows 8. By then they will probably cost what HDDs cost a couple years ago.

EDIT: 100th post!

Congratulations!

 

[sygnus21]

Besides I can't justify the money for the capacity of the drives

A 30GB drive for $89 would be sufficient for Windows7. Mine has never exceeded 17GB used space. But that would give you the full speed benefits. Keep looking at Newegg - they have sales all the time.

That's my point.... $90 for a 30GB drive. Not worth it to me. If I can't get at least a pair of 120's, I don't want it. And a 120GB is expensive!!!

Anyway that the way I see it.

Peace

 

[Wishmaster]

Thing about SSDs are they really arent meant for storage. In fact, do not really provide a great benefit for music,video collections anyway etc.

However, when it comes to the OS itself and all your apps, 40ish GB is more than enough. And , it does make a HUGE differnce in the responsiveness of everything.

Thats even if you use a spinning drive for games, they still load quicker oddly.

IMHO, 40GB SSD is totally worth the $100. Its a night and day difference in the way the system performs and responds.
And, the most noticeable upgrade I know of ATM.

I had a Vertex that was defective and had to send it in for a RMA.

After i re-imaged back to my 640GB WD HD,
Believe me, it was immediately apparent how much difference there truly was.
The entired system slowed down dramatically.

I ended up picking up a 40GB Intel while the OCZ was out for RMA.

So yes, the size seems to be an issue, but for the OS and apps its more than enough. This is where it will make the greatest difference anyway.

 

[Nemix]

Yup that's what I was thinking too, SSD's should only be used for OS and programs installations.

Either way I still need 120GB for my OS and programs and @ $300+ a piece, I think I'll past for now and wait for prices to drop or for hybrid SSD desktop hard drives to hit the market.

 

[whs]

I think there was a misunderstanding regarding my proposed 30GB SSD for $89. That is a solution for a desktop with additional HDDs for the data. The improved speed for the OS on a SSD is very significant.
If you are talking about a laptop, you are not in the market for a SSD (unless you have one of those new HP 17" with 2 bays). SSDs with large capacity are still too expensive. But with a laptop, you are limited regarding performance anyhow.

 

[marsmimar]

I got my Win 7 Pro in Dec 09. MY first WEI with factory default settings was 4.7 and I felt depressed. I spent the next month or so getting used to the differences between 7 Pro and my XP Pro. I restored the machine to factory settings, and my WEI dropped to 4.1. I felt absolutely crushed. Then I found this forum post. Life is good again! Thanks to everyone for explaining the "usefulness" of WEI.

 

[smarteyeball]

Thanks to everyone for explaining the "usefulness" of WEI.

Honestly, for the average user, the only thing the WEI is useful for is to allow it to enable Aero.

After, that... it's not worth giving a second thought.

 

[steve-pressman]

The most honest WEI you can get in my opinion is to add up all the five categories and then divide them by five that will give you your true WEI, just my two pennies worth.

My WEI is 7.3 but if you do the average like I have cited above I get 7.54 A better reflection I think

Steve

 

[prospero]

It is a good tool for salesmen approaching the innocent.

Yeah, I'm reminded of an old adage:

"the salesman sows the dreams and the customer reaps the nightmares."

 

[prospero]

Me again...

Though the scoring areas are the same, the ranges have changed. In Vista, the WEI scores ranged from 1.0 to 5.9. In Windows 7, the range has been extended upward to 7.9

Reminds me of Nigel Tufnell:

Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

 

[TVeblen]

Reminds me of Nigel Tufnell:

Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

:roflmao:Yes! That's the spirit!

 

[TVeblen]

To Nigel!

 

[Rhammstein]

I like the WEI, it serves a great purpose for millions of people who are not well educated or informed. It's much easier to spot how well a system will run in general, and also for a lot of specific software. Games, Office, and the like, many of which have WEI ratings that are very informative for the masses. People can invest money in hardware and software with confidence who may not otherwise.


Also I think SSD's are great, certainly for enthusiasts, although I'm not ready to invest yet. It's so new and progress is made so quickly, if I bought one now I'd be frustrated in just a year; although I'm sure I'd enjoy it for that time.. I'm going to wait until capacity is better, and there are even better algorithms that will allow for really good longevity.

It's obvious how great SSD's are becoming:

 

[Dave76]

Agree with your evaluation of the WEI and the SSD.

When you decide to get a SSD, you'll wonder why you waited so long

 

[chev65]

Despite all the contrary opinions I think WEI gives a fairly useful assessment of overall system performance.