New laptop with XP for under $500?

September 30, 2007 12:59 PM

Is it possible to buy a new laptop for around $500 with Windows XP?

I'm trying to purchase a laptop for my grandmother who lives across the country. She is absolutely insistent that she wants Windows XP instead of Vista. Since she lives so far away, I don't really have the option of buying a laptop and a separate copy of XP and installing it myself. I have searched all the usual places, and I simply cannot locate a new laptop with Windows XP on it. Do they exist anymore? Are there any places that would install Windows XP on a laptop before they ship it?

posted by nzero to computers & internet (6 answers total)

Here you go.

OEMs still sell XP until June so you can poke around dells and hps site or call and ask.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:09 PM on September 30, 2007

I've seen brand new laptops with WinXP from Dell (for example, vostro 1000 for $450). Have you tried to price one out?
posted by lpctstr; at 1:16 PM on September 30, 2007

damn dirty ape:

The computer in the link you provided is listed as refurbished. I am only looking for new laptops.

lcptstr;:

Thanks! That was exactly what I was looking for.
posted by nzero at 1:27 PM on September 30, 2007

You should add Dell as a tag. Not only do they offer XP, but they went back to offering it after switching to Vista, after getting so many requests from customers.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 4:06 PM on September 30, 2007

I actually think this is going to be more difficult than the above posters make it out to be. There are limited options with XP installed from Dell, and they are slightly more than their XP equivalents. Here is one around your price point. Here is the only HP/Compaq that still ships with XP. Gateway and IBM have nothing your price range that will ship with XP as far as I can tell.

You might think you would be better off buying a laptop with no OS installed and get an OEM copy of XP yourself, install it, then send it to grandma. However, most big-name retailers won't sell you a notebook without an OS. I think they make such a large portion of thier profit off the support fees they provide, when they cannot offer an OS it just isn't worth it because they can't offer support.

I actually found some good matches on Overstock (1, 2, 3) and Amazon. Some of these are refurbished, honestly I think your best bet is to look for refurbished machines if she is set on this price point and Windows XP. From what I saw, there just isn't any way to get a new machine for $500 with XP. Either get Vista, go refurbished, or spend more money.
posted by sophist at 1:46 AM on October 1, 2007

Ahh I couldn't find the Vostro link from Dell's site when I looked earlier, but that is exactly it. Disregard my previous post.
posted by sophist at 1:50 AM on October 1, 2007