Where to buy a laptop running XP?

Voyager2002

As per the title, any suggestions?

I have been asked to buy a machine to take with me to work in Africa, and the technical support there is geared up to Windows XP. I was asked NOT to get an Apple, and apparently the people there with Vista machines are having trouble.

My budget is a thousand US dollars (about 680 pounds).

davetrousers

I think Novatech may still sell comps with the option of XP

bryanb

Second hand?

Voyager2002

Thanks: I have now found a company called Laptops Direct that offers a choice of 128 laptops with XP installed, in many cases as an optional 'downgrade' to machines designed to run under Vista.

So: any suggestions on how to choose? Reliability is of key importance, since few if any manufacturers have service departments in Benin (West Africa), and I shall be travelling for work across the whole region.

gjchester

Dell will do it but you need to go for the small business route rather than the home route. The Lattitude series can be downgraded to XP.

In terms of cost and licencing you cannot downgrade vista Home or Home premuim to XP. It seems odd to pay more for XP but in effect your upgrading your Home or Home premium to Business or Ultimate, which DO have the downgrade rights to XP.

Dell would almost certainly be able to offer the support you need.

chunter

From Dell.. £583
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukbsd1&l=en&oc=N0413107&s=bsd&sbc=rf_spider&m_30=143095&dgc=AF&cid=5213&lid=122757
Add XP Pro installed for an extra tenner.
Very quick machine with 4 gig (3gb if the new hardware architecture"steals" a gig to run the OS (it's a Vista thing))
Also has antiglare screen.

I you're travelling a lot, I'd generally recommend a13inch laptop.
More mobile. Buy a 13 inch laptop bag and a 15/17 laptop bag. Gives an extra layer of protection if you put one into the other.

John_Gray

Laptopsdirect have a search option for just the XP laptops which they sell. (Please note that their customer service has not always received the highest praise in these forums...)