If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ???

Lend-Fish · 07-16-2007, 12:44 PM

If you were buying a NEW laptop would you buy it with XP or Vista??

I feel like Ive heard too many bad things about vista. How do you Vista users like it?

Anybody suggests any brands? I looked at hp but they dont offer XP and wont customize. Heard Dell has customer service issues. Any Dell users have info, how do you like your Dell?

All replys welcome. Thank you.

**kinbard** · 07-16-2007, 12:52 PM

I would go with Vista. I already have one with xp, so why not? As far as brands, I would shop for the best deal.

**TheMatt** · 07-16-2007, 01:37 PM

I would not go with Vista, I have seen way too many issues and security flaws with it. Also, many games still don't support it, and they run slower on Vista. Go with an XP laptop and if the laptop you want doesn't have XP on it, then check the driver support page for XP drivers. You may just be able to

As for brands, I would go with these in order of appearance on the list:

1 ABS
1 Systemax
2 IBM/Leveno
3 Acer
3 Fujitsu
3 Panasonic
4 ASUS
4 MSI
5 HP
5 Gateway
5 Toshiba
5 Dell
6 Sony Vaio

Brands not on the list are not brands I consider except under special circumstances.

ebackhus · 07-16-2007, 06:13 PM

Only if it's a powerful machine. Of the 3 laptops I own, only one can run vista due to hardware requirements. All three can run XP with ease.

Thundaar · 07-16-2007, 06:46 PM

I'd go with Vista then get XP by other means *wink* *wink* and dual boot them both. A computer with Vista will have higher specifications due to the fact that Vista needs them so by buying a computer with Vista you can guarantee that it will have good specs. I have a friend that was stupid enough to return his Laptop after getting it on a deal with Vista when all he had to do was install another OS. Well, it's his problem now.

**TheMatt** · 07-16-2007, 07:09 PM

The problem is that many manufacturers do not support XP with drivers. If they do or you can get drivers from the third party manufacturers, then you are all set, but you don't want to get stuck without a Wireless or NIC driver unless you switch back to Vista!

**Terrister** · 07-16-2007, 07:26 PM

I bought an Acer laptop earlier this year. It came with Vista. It ran ok. The User Account Control got on my nerves. Kept second guessing me several times a day. Finally I turned it off. The power management needs lots of work. Xp lasted a 1/3 longer on battery than Vista.

Also ran into problems running some programs. They either did not run at all or correctly with Vista.

I was lucky with this laptop. It had full driver support for XP. In fact, a month or 2 earlier, it was sold with XP on it.

I would hold off on getting a laptop with Vista until the 1st service pack is released. It should fix some of the above problems.

Pamela22 · 07-17-2007, 06:00 AM

I bought a Lenovo Laptop 2 months back, but I bought it with lesser RAM (512)
whereas the requirement for vista is atleast 1GB. it was very slow due to that,
Then I upgraded it to 1 GB and its pretty fast now.

Hence please check the specs before buying Vista.

**Terrister** · 07-17-2007, 09:02 AM

It should be a crime to sell a computer with 512MB ram and Vista.

ebackhus · 07-17-2007, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrister

It should be a crime to sell a computer with 512MB ram and Vista.

I saw an Acer in an ad with those specs. No wonder it was only $389.

**TheMatt** · 07-17-2007, 01:25 PM

I would actually pay a little more for a laptop that had the same specs but with XP because it would be faster and more stable.

Raptor22 · 07-18-2007, 12:32 AM

Vista is simply horrible... my Pavilion dv9207us is almost "stuck in the mud" because it runs on Vista Home Premium. I only have a gig of ram and I'm about to receive my RAM upgrades because of that... after installing 2 gigs of RAM that sucker should be faster...

But yes... XP is definitely the way to go if you like gaming and a fast OS... Vista is just for those "new" to computers who don't care about speed but more rather on looks, style, and ease of use.

b00tnek · 07-18-2007, 01:18 AM

Jump in the deep end and go with Vista.....
As allready mentioned make sure you have stacks of memory as a lot of the systems being sold out there have very little.
I did a support call yesterday for a New Acer PC purchased from PC World which had 512mbRam - The machine ran like an absolute Dog.

I really like XP which is well establshed in comparison to Vista but we will probably all be on Vista someday so why not go for it now.

With regards to laptop models / makes. I would recommend going for an HP over Dell as i have fixed far more Dell machines than any other.
HP have a good selection and are fairly reliable.
Failing that ACER do some well specc'd models.

______________________________________________

Raptor22 · 07-18-2007, 01:21 AM

I agree... HP is definitely a good choice for laptops... mine has been running problem-free ever since I got it. It's only a bit slow on games since it's only 1GB RAM with Vista...

The two good laptop brands I know so far are HP and Toshiba since I only owned these brands... yet they are really reliable and decent.

ebackhus · 07-18-2007, 10:15 AM

I trust Acer and IBM above all else. Toshiba made FANTASTIC laptops in the late 90's but seriously dropped the ball in recent years. My cousin had one that spent more time in the shop than in her posession. Dells I just cannot stand. I don't believe it's market saturation when people tell me that's why I've repaired so many. Acer is #3 in the world and I've NEVER repaired one. Gateway was also one of the companies I liked in years past. Their recent stuff is pretty good, but overpriced if you want something decently powerful. IBM is a company I'll always use as their machines are worth their weight in GOLD. I recently bought an HP/Compag nx6110 and it's doing rather well. It's better suited to office work than gaming and the like, but churns through things quite quickly. The only major downside is that the CPU is not 64-bit. I'd never buy an HP desktop, though. HP makes great printers. eMachines suck.

**TheMatt** · 07-18-2007, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebackhus

I'd never buy an HP desktop, though.

Why? HP/Compaq is one brand of Desktops that I regularly recommend because they recently have been using all industry standard parts and some third party parts like Asus motherboards and Infineon RAM.

1 g0t 0wn3d · 07-18-2007, 05:48 PM

They stuck me with an ecs motherboard and ram that does not have a name (i got rid of ram and am working on the motherboard)

**TheMatt** · 07-18-2007, 05:52 PM

Older boards were made by ECS. I have seen a lot of HP/Compaq desktops with Asus and Biostar boards, and Infineon and Samsung RAM. Most of the newer models have the better boards and RAM.

1 g0t 0wn3d · 07-18-2007, 06:25 PM

MIne is only 3 months old.....

**twajetmech** · 07-18-2007, 07:24 PM

I have a Toshiba tablet m200 dual boot with XP and Vista....with 1 Gb of memory it has no problem with Vista at all. While it was never intended for Vista it runs it quite well...I would say that if you are considering a laptop and Vista just be sure the system specs are able to handle vista's requirements....if it is sold with Vista as an option then it should have no problems with driver support from the mfg. All my Laptops over the years have been either IBM or Toshiba, I find both to be very well made and hold up to a lot of abuse in a College/work environment !

07-16-2007, 12:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Lend-Fish Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 47 OS: XP	If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? If you were buying a NEW laptop would you buy it with XP or Vista?? I feel like Ive heard too many bad things about vista. How do you Vista users like it? Anybody suggests any brands? I looked at hp but they dont offer XP and wont customize. Heard Dell has customer service issues. Any Dell users have info, how do you like your Dell? All replys welcome. Thank you.

07-16-2007, 12:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
kinbard TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,459 OS: Experimenter	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I would go with Vista. I already have one with xp, so why not? As far as brands, I would shop for the best deal. __________________ Half viking, half pirate, stronger than both XP Repair Malware Removal Vista Repair Downgrade Vista

07-16-2007, 01:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I would not go with Vista, I have seen way too many issues and security flaws with it. Also, many games still don't support it, and they run slower on Vista. Go with an XP laptop and if the laptop you want doesn't have XP on it, then check the driver support page for XP drivers. You may just be able to As for brands, I would go with these in order of appearance on the list: 1 ABS 1 Systemax 2 IBM/Leveno 3 Acer 3 Fujitsu 3 Panasonic 4 ASUS 4 MSI 5 HP 5 Gateway 5 Toshiba 5 Dell 6 Sony Vaio Brands not on the list are not brands I consider except under special circumstances. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides Last edited by TheMatt; 07-16-2007 at 01:43 PM.

07-16-2007, 06:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,974 OS: WinXP Pro SP3 My System Blog Entries: 26	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? Only if it's a powerful machine. Of the 3 laptops I own, only one can run vista due to hardware requirements. All three can run XP with ease. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

07-16-2007, 06:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Thundaar Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 110 OS: MCE	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I'd go with Vista then get XP by other means wink wink and dual boot them both. A computer with Vista will have higher specifications due to the fact that Vista needs them so by buying a computer with Vista you can guarantee that it will have good specs. I have a friend that was stupid enough to return his Laptop after getting it on a deal with Vista when all he had to do was install another OS. Well, it's his problem now.

07-16-2007, 07:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? The problem is that many manufacturers do not support XP with drivers. If they do or you can get drivers from the third party manufacturers, then you are all set, but you don't want to get stuck without a Wireless or NIC driver unless you switch back to Vista! __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-16-2007, 07:26 PM	#7 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,081 OS: Xp	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I bought an Acer laptop earlier this year. It came with Vista. It ran ok. The User Account Control got on my nerves. Kept second guessing me several times a day. Finally I turned it off. The power management needs lots of work. Xp lasted a 1/3 longer on battery than Vista. Also ran into problems running some programs. They either did not run at all or correctly with Vista. I was lucky with this laptop. It had full driver support for XP. In fact, a month or 2 earlier, it was sold with XP on it. I would hold off on getting a laptop with Vista until the 1st service pack is released. It should fix some of the above problems. __________________ Last edited by Terrister; 07-16-2007 at 07:29 PM.

07-17-2007, 06:00 AM	#8 (permalink)
Pamela22 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: India Posts: 7 OS: Windows Vista Home Basic	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I bought a Lenovo Laptop 2 months back, but I bought it with lesser RAM (512) whereas the requirement for vista is atleast 1GB. it was very slow due to that, Then I upgraded it to 1 GB and its pretty fast now. Hence please check the specs before buying Vista.

07-17-2007, 09:02 AM	#9 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 7,081 OS: Xp	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? It should be a crime to sell a computer with 512MB ram and Vista. __________________

07-17-2007, 01:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I would actually pay a little more for a laptop that had the same specs but with XP because it would be faster and more stable. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-18-2007, 12:32 AM	#12 (permalink)
Raptor22 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 94 OS: Vista Home Premium 64-bit	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? Vista is simply horrible... my Pavilion dv9207us is almost "stuck in the mud" because it runs on Vista Home Premium. I only have a gig of ram and I'm about to receive my RAM upgrades because of that... after installing 2 gigs of RAM that sucker should be faster... But yes... XP is definitely the way to go if you like gaming and a fast OS... Vista is just for those "new" to computers who don't care about speed but more rather on looks, style, and ease of use.

07-18-2007, 01:18 AM	#13 (permalink)
b00tnek Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2 OS: Vista Ultimate	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? Jump in the deep end and go with Vista..... As allready mentioned make sure you have stacks of memory as a lot of the systems being sold out there have very little. I did a support call yesterday for a New Acer PC purchased from PC World which had 512mbRam - The machine ran like an absolute Dog. I really like XP which is well establshed in comparison to Vista but we will probably all be on Vista someday so why not go for it now. With regards to laptop models / makes. I would recommend going for an HP over Dell as i have fixed far more Dell machines than any other. HP have a good selection and are fairly reliable. Failing that ACER do some well specc'd models. ______________________________________________ Last edited by chauffeur2; 07-18-2007 at 01:58 AM. Reason: Removed Advertising in Signature

07-18-2007, 01:21 AM	#14 (permalink)
Raptor22 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 94 OS: Vista Home Premium 64-bit	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I agree... HP is definitely a good choice for laptops... mine has been running problem-free ever since I got it. It's only a bit slow on games since it's only 1GB RAM with Vista... The two good laptop brands I know so far are HP and Toshiba since I only owned these brands... yet they are really reliable and decent.

07-18-2007, 10:15 AM	#15 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 12,974 OS: WinXP Pro SP3 My System Blog Entries: 26	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I trust Acer and IBM above all else. Toshiba made FANTASTIC laptops in the late 90's but seriously dropped the ball in recent years. My cousin had one that spent more time in the shop than in her posession. Dells I just cannot stand. I don't believe it's market saturation when people tell me that's why I've repaired so many. Acer is #3 in the world and I've NEVER repaired one. Gateway was also one of the companies I liked in years past. Their recent stuff is pretty good, but overpriced if you want something decently powerful. IBM is a company I'll always use as their machines are worth their weight in GOLD. I recently bought an HP/Compag nx6110 and it's doing rather well. It's better suited to office work than gaming and the like, but churns through things quite quickly. The only major downside is that the CPU is not 64-bit. I'd never buy an HP desktop, though. HP makes great printers. eMachines suck. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

07-18-2007, 05:48 PM	#17 (permalink)
1 g0t 0wn3d Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sedona, az Posts: 6,429 OS: Vista basic 32bit My System	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? They stuck me with an ecs motherboard and ram that does not have a name (i got rid of ram and am working on the motherboard) __________________ Bench Test \| PC Wizard \| System specs \| PSU info \| PSU calculator \| Memtest86+ \| Speedfan[/center]

07-18-2007, 05:52 PM	#18 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? Older boards were made by ECS. I have seen a lot of HP/Compaq desktops with Asus and Biostar boards, and Infineon and Samsung RAM. Most of the newer models have the better boards and RAM. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-18-2007, 06:25 PM	#19 (permalink)
1 g0t 0wn3d Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sedona, az Posts: 6,429 OS: Vista basic 32bit My System	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? MIne is only 3 months old..... __________________ Bench Test \| PC Wizard \| System specs \| PSU info \| PSU calculator \| Memtest86+ \| Speedfan[/center]

07-18-2007, 07:24 PM	#20 (permalink)
twajetmech I helped the forums. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: LGA, NYC Posts: 2,387 OS: XP-Pro Sp2 & XP-Pro Sp2 Tablet Edition, Vista Ultimate My System	Re: If you were buying a NEW laptop would you ??? I have a Toshiba tablet m200 dual boot with XP and Vista....with 1 Gb of memory it has no problem with Vista at all. While it was never intended for Vista it runs it quite well...I would say that if you are considering a laptop and Vista just be sure the system specs are able to handle vista's requirements....if it is sold with Vista as an option then it should have no problems with driver support from the mfg. All my Laptops over the years have been either IBM or Toshiba, I find both to be very well made and hold up to a lot of abuse in a College/work environment ! __________________ PSU Selection/Info // Bench test // Thermal Paste // Memory Selection // Bios Beep Codes // CPU-Z// Posting System Specs