need help buying a new notebook

[dicklaw18]

hello everyone, im looking to buy a new notebook. Im having some trouble as i really would like to stay away from vista and stay with xp due to all of the compatability issues ive read about with vista. Im looking for a laptop that has at least a integrated webcam/microphone and having a fingerprint reader is much wanted. If not a notebook that comes with xp standard, does anyone know of any that have these features but also will not loose the warrenty or have any hardware compatability issues when downgrading? thanks

 

[dicklaw18]

also the reason why i need a new laptop is because i had a fire in my house and am currently attending college so i need a new one pretty fast

 

[Nathan H]

Hi I have just added an Acer TravelMate 5520

to my collection.

It has a built in web-cam & Mic, As well as built in Blue-tooth and wireless.

it also boasts a 56Kmodem for faxing
2GB of DDR2 RAM
15.4" Screen
LAN Port
120GB SATA HDD
AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core TK-55

It comes with Vista Home Premium,

If you want you can always format the HDD install XP,

then if ever become inevitable to send your Laptop to get repaired, Hook up your HDD to a caddy, D/L all Data reinstall the recovery disk - put your HDD back in & your warranty is still intact.

 

[gunslinger]

hello everyone, im looking to buy a new notebook. Im having some trouble as i really would like to stay away from vista and stay with xp due to all of the compatability issues ive read about with vista. Im looking for a laptop that has at least a integrated webcam/microphone and having a fingerprint reader is much wanted. If not a notebook that comes with xp standard, does anyone know of any that have these features but also will not loose the warrenty or have any hardware compatability issues when downgrading? thanks

I'm going with a Macbook dual booting OSX and XP for this very reason.

 

[dicklaw18]

Hi I have just added an Acer TravelMate 5520

to my collection.

It has a built in web-cam & Mic, As well as built in Blue-tooth and wireless.

it also boasts a 56Kmodem for faxing
2GB of DDR2 RAM
15.4" Screen
LAN Port
120GB SATA HDD
AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core TK-55

It comes with Vista Home Premium,

If you want you can always format the HDD install XP,

then if ever become inevitable to send your Laptop to get repaired, Hook up your HDD to a caddy, D/L all Data reinstall the recovery disk - put your HDD back in & your warranty is still intact.

so theres no way they could tell? i didnt think so but i wanted to make sure. And also what about hardware compatability issues? ive heard from some places that when you install xp on a vista machine it will not work properly due to hardware conflicts and driver support

 

[Blues]

so theres no way they could tell? i didnt think so but i wanted to make sure. And also what about hardware compatability issues? ive heard from some places that when you install xp on a vista machine it will not work properly due to hardware conflicts and driver support

What happens is the hardware does not have XP drivers so verify there are XP drivers first then make the call. I know Dell Latitudes can be bought wil XP still.

 

[dicklaw18]

What happens is the hardware does not have XP drivers so verify there are XP drivers first then make the call. I know Dell Latitudes can be bought wil XP still.

so what would be my best bet in order to verify that? would i just look under the model under support and see if they have the xp drivers? or is there another way to do it

 

[Nathan H]

so what would be my best bet in order to verify that? would i just look under the model under support and see if they have the XP drivers? or is there another way to do it

Yes try that but also try good old google, try a search for the driver and see what you get

 

[generalj]

The hp tx1000 series is really nice. I have never liked hp but this laptop I have is really nice. I have the tx1320us model(last years model I am sure) But I have it dual booting ubuntu linux and vista with virtualbox on ubuntu running XP. It has a webcam, fingerprint reader and nice touchpad that looks like it wont fade out and go bad from a lot of use like my previous laptop did. Anyways its only has a 12.2 inch screen which is actually one of the reason I got it. Its smaller and easy to lug around but still looks nice. Laptops you tend to sit closer the screen size is not that big of a factor. Its got a dual core amd proc and 2gig ram. Oh its also a tablet pc so it comes with a stylus pen that has a lockin slot for it to store in plus it comes with a media remote control that also has a lockin slot to store it. Its a really nice laptop and I got it for 950.00 us dollar. heres a link http://www.squidoo.com/HP-Pavilion-tx1320us

I am currently trying to go all digital forms and use the laptop to have customers sign. I want to look into the legal aspects of this though first.

oh and if you goto HP website after you buy it you can enter the serial and get a free custom skin to go on the top. They have a huge selection of some really nice skins.

 

[cis4smack]

Have you tried looking at the laptops at newegg.com?

 

[dicklaw18]

this is what im looking at right now
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...tion.do?destination=review&config_id=631384#a
not sure if it could take xp tho..im on dial up access and cant do alot of research

 

[generalj]

I am not sure but I know the tx1000 series are pretty good at letting you put xp on them, one sure way to tell is check hp website drivers and downloads section for that model and see if they list xp drivers. mine for example they have vista and xp drivers available on it.

 

[dicklaw18]

I am not sure but I know the tx1000 series are pretty good at letting you put xp on them, one sure way to tell is check hp website drivers and downloads section for that model and see if they list xp drivers. mine for example they have vista and xp drivers available on it.

i dont see any xp drivers but im not sure

 

[generalj]

ya I tried looking up your model for xp drivers, but that one you are looking at is a special edition so its kind of hard finding it. I would call HP and see if they can tell you.

 

[dicklaw18]

ya I tried looking up your model for xp drivers, but that one you are looking at is a special edition so its kind of hard finding it. I would call HP and see if they can tell you.

ok thank you im gonna talk to the insurance adjuster about what i can get and once i start looking more with a price in mind ill post here again

 

[Jory]

Have you considered the eeePC? Assuming you're going to use it for service calls the size/weight will come in very handy. I've been thinking of getting one just for that purpose. At 2 pounds and $400 bucks I can afford to carry it around and abuse it.

If you're going to use it as your main machine it's certainly not an option, but it would seem like a pc tech's best friend. The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger on it myself is I have a customer that's planning to buy one and I want to test out the VNC screen size scaling in person. If I can't VNC to the computers I'm working on from the couch I don't know if it'll do for all my purposes.

 

[dicklaw18]

hmm im having alot of trouble trying to find the drivers, especially since im not sure what my fill model number will be until after i buy it. i found out i can spend like 1800 on the laptop, so im really not sure what to do, can anyone help me maybe if i pick a couple out to help me find all of the drivers, ect? thanks in advance everyone

 

[dicklaw18]

also what is the best kind of graphics card i should look for in a notebook?

 

[generalj]

Well, I would not spend the whole 1800 on a laptop. You can get really nice ones under a grand today.

As far as video card I prefer nvidia cards. Anything 6000 series and higher should suit you fine.

I would really recommend the hptx1000 series as I stated earlier. I have had this for a month now and cant believe what a great laptop this is for under a grand. I mean duel core, 2 gig, tablet screen. nvidia 6 series video card. Its small but not too small, easy to carry around, The web cam is by far one of the best I have ever seen. And trust me I have went through web cams, my wife lives in Germany with my son and I have been webc amming with them for years, I have had top of the line logitech and creative web cams and the internal one in this laptop is just amazing.

I have Linux on it and I never use windows no more. I can do everything on Linux that I could on windows for free. I mean even most of the popular windows only apps will work great on Linux now.

Anyways, I spent 2500 on a laptop 4 years ago. It was top of the line custom built from Sager. Full graphics card etc etc. Well it just got way to hot. its way to big. Even though I wanted the nice big wide screen on it the extra screen and graphics just heat up and use power to much the adapter has went out twice I had to get a new battery and it needs one now. The laptop is sitting under my desk and all it needs is a battery but to me its just not worth it on this thing.

Now this new hp is awesome. I cant say that enough really. I mean I have the tx1320us model. Don't think just because its a tablet that its something different, its still a laptop just you can rotate the screen down to use as a writing surface. Which works awesome many things you can use it for.

And it will let you put XP on it, hp has drivers for XP on their site for it. I run XP with virtual box though just in case I need it.

but seriously don't spend over a grand on a laptop. Save the rest for something else.

 

[dicklaw18]

Well, I would not spend the whole 1800 on a laptop. You can get really nice ones under a grand today.

As far as video card I prefer nvidia cards. Anything 6000 series and higher should suit you fine.

I would really recommend the hptx1000 series as I stated earlier. I have had this for a month now and cant believe what a great laptop this is for under a grand. I mean duel core, 2 gig, tablet screen. nvidia 6 series video card. Its small but not too small, easy to carry around, The web cam is by far one of the best I have ever seen. And trust me I have went through web cams, my wife lives in Germany with my son and I have been webc amming with them for years, I have had top of the line logitech and creative web cams and the internal one in this laptop is just amazing.

I have Linux on it and I never use windows no more. I can do everything on Linux that I could on windows for free. I mean even most of the popular windows only apps will work great on Linux now.

Anyways, I spent 2500 on a laptop 4 years ago. It was top of the line custom built from Sager. Full graphics card etc etc. Well it just got way to hot. its way to big. Even though I wanted the nice big wide screen on it the extra screen and graphics just heat up and use power to much the adapter has went out twice I had to get a new battery and it needs one now. The laptop is sitting under my desk and all it needs is a battery but to me its just not worth it on this thing.

Now this new hp is awesome. I cant say that enough really. I mean I have the tx1320us model. Don't think just because its a tablet that its something different, its still a laptop just you can rotate the screen down to use as a writing surface. Which works awesome many things you can use it for.

And it will let you put XP on it, hp has drivers for XP on their site for it. I run XP with virtual box though just in case I need it.

but seriously don't spend over a grand on a laptop. Save the rest for something else.

the only thing is i cant get the 1800 unless i get a laptop for that much, there paying to replace it, but if i dont they wouldnt give me hardly anything for it, and i was looking at the tablet but i wasnt sure im use to a 15.4 screen and i do love that.