Reasonably Decent Laptop With Legit Win/xp Pro Os Installed

[CosmicSurfer]

I'm shopping for a New laptop for my wife.

Budget around 20,000 baht, more or LESS ... If doable. (OK 30k if it's necessary)

Criteria... NOT for Gamng or heavy Multimedia use... It's for Work, Chat & some music playing.

I do want a Legit O/S though... We'll be moving back to the Sane World in the next few years...

and I want it to be able to be updated and upgraded without any issues.

Advice is always appreciated....

Except from Apple Addicts.... I REFUSE to give Steve Jobs any more of my money... He can abuse other customers... never me again.

So much Thanks,

CS

[bino]

All of the world recognized brand names like HP, Dell, Acer, et al will sell you a laptop with a genuine OS. You will need to be specific about this with the dealer, because they prefer to sell a less expensive laptop with a free Linux distribution included, and then install a bogus Windows OS. Quite often they will have two identical pieces of hardware, but one with a genuine OS will have a different model number, and will add a few thousand to the cost of the laptop. Make sure it has a Windows Authenticity sticker on the underside of the machine.

I'd say that finding one with a genuine OS for 20,000 will be next to impossible... this price will get you the Linux / bogus Windows model.

Also, I doubt you will find Win XP as a factory installation now. All recent laptops that I have seen are shipping with Vista.

Edited June 6, 2008 by bino

[ariesram74]

buy the OS online if there are authenticity concerns. i have read uninstalling Vista and installing XP can cause drver headaches as you learn your hardware was made for one operating system.

All of the world recognized brand names like HP, Dell, Acer, et al will sell you a laptop with a genuine OS. You will need to be specific about this with the dealer, because they prefer to sell a less expensive laptop with a free Linux distribution included, and then install a bogus Windows OS. Quite often they will have two identical pieces of hardware, but one with a genuine OS will have a different model number, and will add a few thousand to the cost of the laptop. Make sure it has a Windows Authenticity sticker on the underside of the machine.

I'd say that finding one with a genuine OS for 20,000 will be next to impossible... this price will get you the Linux / bogus Windows model.

Also, I doubt you will find Win XP as a factory installation now. All recent laptops that I have seen are shipping with Vista.

[wpcoe]

I picked up an IT City promotion flyer (catalog) a few days ago. I'm not sure of the effective dates, since they're in Thai and I flunked the lesson with the months in it. The closest one to your spec is:

B22,363 - Acer 14.1" 1GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, AMD Athlon 62 X2 TK57 (1.9Ghz), Windows Vista Home Premium

A little higher in price:

B25,573 - Acer 12.1" 1GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, web-cam, Intel Dual-Core T2390 (1.86Ghz), Windows Vista Home Premium

B24,900 - Toshiba 14" 1GB RAM, 200 GB HDD, FM Tuner, Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.0Ghz), "Vista Premium" (I assume they mean Vista Home Premium)

While none of these will be screamers, for B24,900 I think the Toshiba is the best value amongst the three, but if you want a really compact, portable the 12.1" Acer would fit the bill. I travel a lot and it so happens I carry an older Acer 12.1" model and it's wonderful -- light weight and easy to pack.

There are several B20k notebooks with Linux. Even a Compaq for B17k. You might find an economical version of genuine Windows to load, but like ariesram74 said, with notebooks there are many proprietary features that you need to track down drivers for -- if they even exist for a different operating system -- like enhanced battery-saving features, function key combinations like <Alt+Fn4> to hibernate, etc. That can be a pain.

If you prefer Windows XP, I think Microsoft is terminating its offer to ship "downgrade" XP installation disks for registered Vista installations on June 30, 2008. You can use either XP *or* Vista, but not both at the same time (i.e. no dual-boot).