Help me adopt a happy laptop

May 7, 2008 10:56 AM

When should I buy a new laptop?

Okay, I'm pretty sure my Dell Inspiron 1200 is on it's way out, but my tendency is to wait until I've completely fried something before replacing it; however, I don't think I want a laptop with Vista on it. What's the best way to go with this? How long can I wait before Vista is my only option? Conversely, how long could I wait until something replaces Vista?

The only things I care about other than that the OS is not Vista is that the total price is under $750--the cheaper the better. I've had an iBook before and don't want another one. I've been okay with the Dell except that the power cord has a tendency to come loose and drain the battery (both have had to be replaced on more than one laptop). Any thoughts?

posted by Polychrome to computers & internet (11 comments total)

If you're in no hurry, wait for a deal to pop up. I like to check fatwallet and slickdeals.

I picked up a Core2 Dell (1.4ghz, 160gb, 2gb) for $450 last month. I was going to reinstall XP on it, but Vista runs great on it.
posted by wongcorgi at 11:09 AM on May 7

Is brand-new a requirement? If you're willing to buy used (or refurbished lease-returns, etc.) then you've got years to go still.
posted by winston at 11:13 AM on May 7

"I don't think I want a laptop with Vista on it."

Why not? If it's because of bad word of mouth, you may be surprised by actually using Vista. I'm not shy about avoiding MS products, and I have no problem installing and using Linux distros, but I left Vista on my laptop, because, frankly, it works well. I simply have no reason to change the OS.

That said, you don't have time to wait for the next Windows version; that won't be available for a couple of years.

You should consider getting a Linux Laptop. Dell has them, of course. But, Walmart also has non-Vista laptops. Here's one for $400.
posted by oddman at 11:22 AM on May 7

June 30 is supposedly the last day to buy a new machine with XP on it; after that you're stuck with Vista. Apparently Dell intends to still have downgradable-to-XP as an option after that date, FWIW.
posted by tomboko at 11:38 AM on May 7

you could go the mac route and then put boot camp on there and run windows whatever if you really need it. mac mini starts at $600 (core 2 duo), so if you are thinking desktop, then that might be a good option.

Macs are so easy to use that mac users frequently forget how to read:

I've had an iBook before and don't want another one.
and
Help me adopt a happy laptop

Depending on what you expect the laptop to do, and at that pricepoint it can't be much, you might consider an Asus EEE pc.

They're about 350 bucks and run linux.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 11:50 AM on May 7

You can often get a Lenovo Thinkpad T-series for under that, and I believe still with XP. They are not flashy, but many folks including myself consider them the shining exemplar of laptops (that are still manufactured - the 12" powerbook G4 is slightly closer to my heart).
posted by thedaniel at 11:52 AM on May 7

- Keep your eye open for a deal
- Does your current Dell laptop has Win XP. If so you can remove XP from it and use the same serial number to install XP on you new Laptop. You just need to find an OEM cd.

Why not? If it's because of bad word of mouth, you may be surprised by actually using Vista.

from my experiance I find Vista really slow (with no added advantages, other than fancy graphics) compared to XP on a PC with the same configuration.
posted by WizKid at 12:53 PM on May 7

oddman seems to definitely be the odd man in liking Vista; I hate it, and as near as I can tell, almost everyone else does, too. It's buggy and a resource hog.
posted by JMOZ at 1:50 PM on May 7

I used to hate Vista with a passion.. My laptop came with Vista and I immediately installed SP1. No bugs so far, and it runs well on my lowly 1.4ghz cpu.

Just last week I reinstalled my XP MCE 2005 PVR to Vista Home Premium SP1. Works great. I had previously tried pre-SP1 and it was buggy as hell.

People need to try things before they knock them.
posted by wongcorgi at 4:29 PM on May 7

[Vista is] buggy and a resource hog.

Bugginess seems to vary. The resource hogging bit is easily disabled, by disabling Aero Glass.
posted by me & my monkey at 6:35 PM on May 7

Ubuntu is further along than you think...
posted by ihope at 8:02 AM on May 8