Another new laptop question. Need XP, not Vista!

Hey,

I'm in the market for a new laptop, but I'm a bit amazed by the complete lack of support for XP on some new machines. I know it's on the way out and all, but it's what I want to run.

Anyways, I'm looking for some suggestions on a decent laptop that I will be able to put XP on without too many pains. Also, some tips about what to stay away from would help too. (What features are mostly Vista, and therefore not supported in XP)

Please,... I'm not interested in a Vista vs. XP debate. I already know I am going with XP. Vista simply breaks too many things that I am not willing to give up yet.

Here are my base requirements:
-Intel Chipset
-NVidia graphics

2 choices for screens.

1st choice would be a decent screen resolution so I can work with programs that have lots of floating stuff (Like Photoshop)

alternatively, I'd be willing to look at smaller screens if the laptop was quite small. I'd probably take it with to more locations so it would get more use.

Power consumption is not a concern (I'll be near an outlet 99% of the time)

price,... cheaper is better,... looking at $1500-$2000 max

I'm also interested in a Macbook pro if anyone has any opinions they could share on running XP on one of those.

Thanks for any help.

Why? Microsoft are dropping support for it in 3 months, beyond that point it would be illegal for someone to sell it to you. I guess most suppliers aren't willing to break the law for you.

If you don't want a netbook, I'd suggest getting whichever Lenovo laptop falls within your price range and feature requirements.

where did you get that jem of information?

XP has had it end date extended a few times now and Im dam sure that the just released ASUS eee Pcs that come with XP will be sold for at least 2 years, they will never have vista because it wouldn't run on the spec.

microsoft have tried everything to make people buy vista.

back to topic!

Toshiba have all the drivers for xp for there whole range avalible on there website. I love my toshiba ;O)

So do HP/Compaq.

If your looking for a cheapy, there is alot of ebay shops with laptops with XP on them. I bought my own from there. No come back really if it breaks a few month later though. And i didn't get an XP CD, but it is legit, as my product key hologram is still on it.

Although Microsoft has stopped selling XP, they will officially support Windows XP until 2014, and EVERY Windows Vista license comes with an implicit downgrade option to XP. And you can still buy Windows XP from Amazon, by the way, and any other vendor on this planet - as long as they have it on stock.

MacBook Pro: Besides the fact that it is still the fastest notebook for Windows Vista, Windows XP also runs extraordinary well on it -> a friend of mine happily uses it every day on his MacBook Pro (in what is called BootCamp), and yes, he plays games on it.

BUT: Only 32-Bit versions of XP are supported by Apple. Which shouldn't be an issue, since you can only squeeze 4 GB RAM in the MacBook Pro anyway, so you won't be needing a 64-Bit OS to take advantage of the hardware. You might have some luck getting 64-Bit Vista running on it, though.

Most laptops still have XP installations available, and it seems all those cute, fancy mini laptops are coming with XP installed because of the vista bloat.

Thanks for the comments guys,

The HP/Compaq drivers type of comments are what I'm looking for here.

I was looking at a really nice Gateway the other day, but it just doesn't seem to have the proper XP drivers, so I am avoiding it.

If I was going to buy a PC again, it would probably be a Dell, because I've only made very good experiences with their support.

I agree about the Dell. My last couple of laptops have been Dell, and I have had 0 issues with them.

As I stated before, the biggest thing I am looking for is the XP driver support, so I'll be going with something I know will work with XP. The Gateway I was looking at has several issues for people that have tried to take it back to XP, so it's off the list.

My current laptop has lasted me about 5 years now, and I expect a new one to last me about that long again. Whether or not Microsoft "supports" XP does not matter. There is certainly nothing illegal about running an older OS!

only problem some people have is installing the sata drivers when you have no floppy drive. i just got my windows cd and used klite to add the needed drivers and now i can install with all drivers installed for me. great little program.

Microsoft.

Yes. As it turns out there is a special license for ULPCs. However since Pongo wasn't in the market for an ULCPC, that hardly seems relevant. You cannot legally buy Windows XP for a real computer, unless you have a volume license agreement.

Sure. But for how long? Since new hardware arrives all the time, and no new XP drivers are being developed, buying an XP laptop really is pretty risky at this point. But don't let me stop you.

Yes. If you have a volume license agreement. Besides it's only extended support, which really isn't much support at all.

I just visited dell.com; they're still selling notebooks with XP pre-installed (and even some models with Ubuntu on them).

In doubt, just call them before you order. My experience with their business customer hotline is that you usually even get much better deals when you order through phone than on their website.

Still, you can also go for a MacBook (Pro). The XP drivers are on the Leopard installation DVD. ;-)

UPDATE:
XP's extended support: Right, it won't be more than security patches, and certainly not another Service Pack. The question is whether that matters or not. There are still servers and workstations running on Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000, and those systems have been in extended support mode for quite a while now and are still working very well.

By the way, that Microsoft page nowhere says anything about 'XP sales becoming illegal'. Only says something about dates after which Microsoft will stop selling NEW licenses. Whatever XP licenses OEMs still have on stock in 2050 will still be legit to sell and buy and Microsoft better still has activation servers for it running by then.

FlameDuck:


I was just saying, if he buys a Toshiba laptop now he can get XP drivers as alot of brands dont supply any and if they do stop supporting XP you just reinstall vista that comes with the machine.

just about all hardware is shipped with XP drivers and will be for some time because companies arn't stupid enough to think everyone has upgraded to vista.

Why does it make any difference if XP stops being supported after he buys his laptop, its in a stable state and it about as error free as windows gets.

I'd recommend you get a fairly small laptop (but not too small that you have to compromise on the keyboard) - if you get a large, heavy, bulky laptop you'll most likely regret it as I did once, even if it is fast.

Personally I prefer having a really fast desktop, complimented with a nice, lightweight portable laptop. Gaming laptops are almost always a bad decision IMO because they inherently have heating issues (so much power in such a small space), and generally weigh a ton.

My laptop is a Sony Vaio SZ750 - it's carbon fiber, 13.3" screen, 4 pounds, lasts 5-6 hours on battery, has a full-power CPU and low-mid range GPU, so is fast enough for anything but heavy gaming (it can play BF2 just fine, for example), and has a screen that's better than my desktop monitor (brighter, better contrast, etc.). I got it for $1380, and I'm sure you can find similar deals.

Regarding XP, most business class laptops at least give you the option to install XP - my SZ for example came with an XP Pro downgrade disk (which worked fine).

I would probably be running XP now if it wasn't for these things:

1. XP lowers your battery life drastically unless you install power management software additionally

2. XP's font rendering on LCD screens looks horrible and almost illegible compared to Vista - it effectively requires you to turn up your screen's brightness, lowering battery life

3. After using Vista's instant search features and other improvements for a day, there's no way I'd willingly go back to XP. The only thing I don't like about Vista is it's incompatible with one of my 10-year old programs, but that's not too bad.

Looks the same to me with Cleartype on.

I was using Cleartype for sure - it seemed as though the fonts were too thin or something. Definitely worse than Vista. It might have been because my contrast is so high and the red/green/blue sub-pixel antialiasing on XP's cleartype is less subtle.

Edit: I think this is it - on my XP computer I can distinctly see the red pixels on the left of black text and blue pixels on the right. On Vista it's much less apparent, although still there. This seems to result in sharper, darker text. XP's method is probably better suited to lower resolution, lower contrast screens.

Thanks again for some of the comments. I hope to take another good look tonight at my options and get something soon.


Lets face it, a computer is only as good as the software that runs on it, and Vista breaks too many things I want to use. Unfortunately, I know that MS is going to keep going in their direction, whether I like it or not. As for extra XP support from MS, I could really care less. This laptop will be used offline only, and service pack 2 has been very good (stable) for me. I want to extend that for another round until I decide what OS I want to use in the future. That is one of the reasons I'm considering a macbook, but it's not the sort of thing I can just jump into. The only reason the mac gets a look is because I can run it as a PC while dipping my toe in the other side.