Need new business Laptop with XP

[Kate724]

Long story short, we need to add a laptop to our small business network and have to get XP. Vista is out of the question at this point. Have looked at Vostro 1500 and Toshiba. Heard Lenovo is also still selling XP . No time to fool around, we need a machine to start working out of the box. Can't find machines with XP in the stores.

We would like a laptop which could be upgraded to Vista later, if necessary. What components should we make sure the machine have? I've learned at least 2 gigs of ram and a dedicated video card. What else?

I apologize if this is the wrong place for this question. I'm new to this forum, but it was recommended to me.

Thanks,
Kate

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Go with the Vostro 1500. Thinkpads are only necessary if the laptop is seeing a lot of location travel time and needs that sort of mobility. If you're just taking it from one office room to another, the Vostros are fine.

Make sure it has 2GB of mem and you dont need a dedicated graphics card. Intel X3100 graphics can handle aero just fine and saves big time on the battery. Nothing else is really necessary to run Vista. Just make sure it doesn't have a 4200RPM drive (I know for a fact that no Vostros ship with those archaic things) and that the wireless radio in the laptop is compatible with Vista and XP (Intel's 4965AGN is as well as Dell's 1505 and 1309 modules).

Also, if you want to save money, look at the small business side of the Dell Outlet Great deals on laptops that have had the depreciation taken off and have had most of the parts replaced.

Here is a direct link to all Vostro 1500s with a 15.4" screen and 2GB of memory. You can either go with Vista now and buy XP or go with XP now and get Vista.

Getting Vista now is cheaper as they sell it for very cheap and then you can get a copy of XP Home or Pro for fairly cheap as well. If you went with XP now and chose to upgrade to Vista later, it would have a much steeper price for the upgrade box.

Also, on behalf of everyone here, Welcome to AT! We hope that you enjoy your time here. Don't hesitate to ask questions, that's what this place is for after all!

 

[WackyDan]

ThinkPads are rock solid machines, and you can get good buys on them... Plus, order one with Vista, and you can get XP recovery media for $45, and go to vista at lower cost down the road provided you make a copy of the Vista recovery that come with the machine.

 

[996GT2]

I would also suggest ThinkPads...Lenovo has some Excellent deals on all models right now, and you can easily get a well-equipped T series for less than 1000 dollars with 2 Gigs of RAM (Lenovo has some of the cheapest RAM upgrades around), discrete graphics, big 7200 RPM hard drive, and extended battery. The build quality in a ThinkPad is among the best you will find from ANY laptop manufacturer. After all, the laptops used on the International Space Station are Thinkpads.

Welcome to AT and Good Luck!

 

[Kate724]

Thank you for your advice. I'll be honest and say we didn't look at Lenevo because we heard (somewhere?) that they were poorly built and cheap machines. We will check them out now, thanks to your advice. We must have XP to network with the other machines easily.

I am curious about buying a machine with Vista and switch to XP. Would that be difficult to do? We are not mechanically savvy and I would also want to make sure it wouldn't affect the warranty.

How good is Lenevo support? If we attempted to switch the OS to XP would the warranty still apply? How complicated would switching be?

I appreciate your good advice.

Kate