Hi,
I need to buy a laptop for my daughter before she starts college. Her school is currently Win XP Pro based and will be changing to Vista in the late spring. The IT dept stated that they have had some compatability issues with students using Vista and that if possible I should find a Vista compatible system running XP. Of course I am looking for speed and memory. Any info would be appreciated. I realize everyone has their horor stories relating to customer service but that is the nature of the beast.
Thanks

i know for a while dells still had xp available...

Do you need a system running XP that is compatible with vista ?

why not just buy a machine running Vista ?

My sentiments exactly. Whether there are glitches or not (and believe me, in Vista there are A LOT) all the PC systems are going to be/become Vista-standard for a while. There'* a chance you might find an independent dealer somewhere who is still trying to get rid of his XP notebooks, but everywhere I've looked at wants to actually charge you more to get have XP still on it.

You might as well tough it out through the problems until the new patch updates are available. All new operating systems have their issues early on. Good luck!

I have fixed these things for years.

remember the most important part of purchasing a laptop.

HOW MUCH IS THIS P.O.*. GONNA COST ME TO FIX.

Cause it may break remember to get the AWWW #$%^& warranty. It costs more and covers the display and sometimes liquid spills

Now on the actual cost. Per part the Toshiba brand is most cost effective.

IE: sony mother board 900.00 IBM 1500.00 Toshiba 300.00.

Also the most commonly broken part in a laptop is NOT the display. It is the ac power jack (like I said I have done this for alot of years) toshiba designed their mb with a seperate ac power connector, 15.00 for the part plus labor (which costs)..... Ibm, Dell, Compaq etc and the ac power connector is soldered to the MB which requires attempting to fix it or replacing the mb. see above for prices.


Anyhow.. I have not seen the latest models of every maker but from past expeirence I would buy a toshiba for myself. I am currently typing on an IBM cause work provides it.


Others.. may have more first hand knowledge of the newest models but this is what I have seen in the past.

XP is available on the dell business series of notebooks.

ya if she is goin away to collge make sure ya get the warrenty!!! i paid like 400$ for a 4 yr warrenty and its already paid for itsself.. the only thing it doenst cover is if it gets thrown intot a pool.. but ive already had the screen replaced and the hdd

he wants one that has xp now so its compatible with the current school systems, but he wants it to be able to be upgraded to vista when the school upgrades if i read correctly

I do need a system that is running XP now but can run Vista when the school converts over. I did speak with Dell and they offered one low end unit which could be upgraded but would have only Core Duo processor and not the Core 2 Duo processor and other such restrictions, basically older units. I have had my problems with both Dell & HP service, I just cannot decide which was worse.I understand that college is about learning and the system will need to multi task ie: My Space, FaceBook, U-Tube, IM, Music & Video Downloads and of some educational tasks.