I agree! One of my IT friends was a beta tester for Vista and she urged me to buy my laptop while I could still get XP.

I've seen it on other laptops and don't like it...but that's just my opinion...

 

Laptops are not the best for gaming unless you invest some dollars into one...the 650 dollar AMD's will be great for Word, surfing , email etc but for any type of gaming go with a Core 2 Duo....not a Intel Dual Core but a Core 2 Duo. 2 gigs of ram and a decent video card


I have a MacBook for work that has the Core Duo 2...run a dual boot of XP and Mac on it..best of both worlds



Goose

 

I had an Acer laptop with a 17"monitor. I used it when I took trips back east to PA. When I took a brake from driving I watch a movie or play a combat flight sim. When I got to my destination I used it to check my e-mail, update my check book and such. It had Wi-Fi, and the fastest processor possible and memory out the ying-yang. Loved it, but since my youngest son is older now and going into the service, I won't be making so many trips back east or as often, so I sold. i here about the complaints about Vista and am glad that I have XP. But keep in mind, most laptops are fast, but i don't think they can match the speed of a desktop. IMO

 

I have a dell laptop and love it.

 

While I was online yesterday posting here, my daughter was busily downloading Vista from the Microsoft website. College of the Holy Cross has gone 100% Vista, and advised students to do the same. So, she downloads it for 200 bucks, and goes for the install. Well, let's just say it wasn't painless. It messed up her BIOS. She got on the phone with Dell. They worked with her for a bit and finally gave up. They suggested she call Microsoft. She did. She spent, NO LIE, over 5 hours on the telephone with Tech Support fixing things. First remove it from the hard drive, then fix the BIOS, then the re-download, then the install. They were great and stayed on the phone the entire time. It was finally up and running by 10:00 PM. This morning she tried to install Microsoft Office for Students and Teachers, 2007 Edition. Guess who she is on the phone with.........like I said, I LOVE XP, Vista, well.....SUCKS

 

I always recommend Apple since I am a mac user myself. However if you want a good PC I would look at a Dell Latitude from the Dell small business store online. You can configure your computer with XP if you choose and the business laptops don't come loaded down with tons of junk (demos, previews, offers ect..) I personally have a Compaq laptop loaded with Vista Basic in addition to my iMac and it is not that bad but It's also not the revolutionary upgrade that Microsoft would have you believe either. Whatever you choose make sure it has at minimum 1GB of memory. Processor speed doesn't mean as much as it used to. With dual core processors you have 2 slower cores doing the work more efficiently than one super fast (and hot) core.

 

I've been in the computer repair business for over 25yrs. and this OS is causing more issues then Windows ME. You have too spend more money, to only get Windows fluff and glowing icons. Bill Gates is rich enough and this VISTA OS is JUNK.

 

XP is still available on new computers for a limited time. You have to ask for it though. Yes, Vista has issues. I hear that the new Mac OS, Leopard, has issues too. That being said, my son is in college taking photography and has a brand new Mac notebook from there, running leopard, and loves it. He plays Warcrack on it fairley regularly and he says it has plenty of power.

Jim

 

I agree that Dell makes an awesome laptop. I have an XPS M140. It's actually an upgrade Inspiron with the XPS name. It's a smaller one and I take it everywhere I travel. I love it. Check their website to see if you're eligible for additional discounts. Here's the website: http://www.dell.com/content/segmente...684&l=en&s=pub.

When buying any laptop, get the most memory you can afford. Laptops are very difficult to upgrade. Dell laptops have interchangeable components which are easily accessible from underneath. A technician replaced my DVD in only a few moments. Buy one that's not too heavy if he plans to carry it from class to class.

If your son wants to play video games, buy him a console. He won't be able to go online at college to play games anyway.

 

Since this is for college, I would encourage you to visit your sons college bookstore. I work for Tiger Tech, which is a part of the University of Missouri Bookstore. We offer laptop computers at a student rate, which is much cheaper than the "box stores", and the computers come pre loaded with the software the students would need for class, and is "MU ready", so it has everything ready to go with our system. We offer several choices, including Dell and Apple, and financing and student charge can be used. Good luck, I hope you find a good computer and a great deal.