OT- Anyone sell new desktop PC with Windows XP besides Dell ?

Need $400 new computer for measuring system, but hate to pay $100 extra for XP...seems ridiculous.... ideas ?

As of a few months ago, lenovo still would provide XP (as opposed to vista) stock
for no extra charge. I don't *think* it was an employee-only thing.

Jim

Don, is your requirement a $400 computer or a computer with XP?

Office Depot has the HP A6600F in this week's ad for $399.99 after rebate (no monitor). It has Vista and is a notch or two above a bare bones machine.

http://officedepot.shoplocal.com/of...hmWuPGPkVrDq8GeN&odserver=www.officedepot.com

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...7396&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Or you can buy the less expensive HP a6600z (with Vista) for $299.99 direct from HP:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto.do

I am using an eMachines T3646 that I bought at OD a few months ago for $299.99. It has Vista and is bare bones by today's standards. It works fine for what I do on it. After wasting thousands of dollars on top end machines that did things I never needed before they got too obsolete to use, I have realized that the cheapest computer is the way to go. Several times since I bought this computer, I have seen OD having a sale price of $299.99 on similar computers by various makers.

Larry

L Vanice said:

Don, is your requirement a $400 computer or a computer with XP?

Click to expand...

Obviously it's both

Milacron said:

Obviously it's both

Click to expand...

Then obviously, you can buy a $300 computer with Vista and load your $100 XP on it, achieving your goal.

Larry

I am only a beginner with computers,but my wife hates the Vista,and has had nothing but trouble with it. She is quite the computer whiz,too.

Mines a Dell but a friend has an HP with Windows XP that he got from Office Depot for a little less than the Mentioned $400.However this was a year or two back.

check your local craigslist. I have bought 2 from there and there both still running good.

NewbieMachinist said:

check your local craigslist. I have bought 2 from there and there both still running good.

Click to expand...

I said *new* computer... also there is no Craiglist "local" to me.

L Vanice said:

Then obviously, you can buy a $300 computer with Vista and load your $100 XP on it, achieving your goal.

Larry

Click to expand...

Obvious indeed but too much hassel..

jim rozen said:

As of a few months ago, lenovo still would provide XP (as opposed to vista) stock
for no extra charge. I don't *think* it was an employee-only thing.

Click to expand...

Just checked Lenovo site and no mention of XP as a possiblity anywhere.

Pricewatch.com

http://www.pricewatch.com/computer_systems_with_os/pentium_4_650_3.4ghz_win.htm

First system listed is for $260 with either xp or vista.

Enjoy.

Monoxide said:

Pricewatch.com

http://www.pricewatch.com/computer_systems_with_os/pentium_4_650_3.4ghz_win.htm

First system listed is for $260 with either xp or vista.

Click to expand...

Ah..finally...thanks ! I had just checked Newegg.com and found some XP computers there as well, but prices were a little higher and I didn't see any in ATx size box, which would be better for this application.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107712

I bought 3 of these for the office recently. Comes with XP installed and a Vista upgrade.

They were only 399.99 when I purchased though

Milacron,

I was unfortunate enough to buy a Lenovo with Vista. I believe MS has put the kibosh on selling XP directly with almost any computer (Dell must be an exception), but my understanding is that if you buy the Vista and complain loud enough to Lenovo, you can buy the "back down" disk for XP for $45. I would call it an "upgrade disk". You then wipe out Vista on your computer, and load XP. You still may have the problem of Office 2007.

If you have any faith in MS and feel that you may want Vista in the future, make sure you create a Vista install disk, using the info on the HD as it came from the vendor, before you clear the disk to install XP.

Vista did an involuntary upgrade that blew away all my machine's drivers. Took me weeks to get back into the swing of things. Lenovo/MS answer was to reinstall the O/S. Golly, that only takes a day or two of my time. It's not like a computer O/S is supposed to SAVE you time, is it? I mean, you and I exist to feed MS revenues, and to mindlessly obey the directives from Master Supervision (MS), right?

gwilson said:

I am only a beginner with computers,but my wife hates the Vista,and has had nothing but trouble with it. She is quite the computer whiz,too.

Click to expand...

g, your wife's not alone. I have been writing code in Basic, Fortran, C, C++ since the '70s, and was a software product manager for one of the most widely used suites of software in the pharma industry, and make my living writing computer models of the human body. I have a BS, two MS(one electrical, one chemical), and a PhD degree in engineering. The point is not that I am a big computer whiz, but more that I am relatively familiar with computers and their effective use. I have not found one thing in Vista - absolutely not one - that is easier, better, or faster than it was in XP. I have found precisely one thing in Office 2007 that is easier*. Otherwise everything I do routinely is more difficult, harder to find, and less obvious in Office 2007. The only reason for these piece of c**p bloatware abortions is to give MS revenue. Any IT manager that would sign off on moving from XP/2003 to Vista/2007 is incompetent and should be terminated immediately. Good software design hides complexity and makes commonly-used features easy-to-use. Based on these metrics, I think all the good MS programmers must have left, or are cowards who willingly bend over for their evil MS product manager overlords.

Soylent Vista is people's lives - lives made less efficient, projects not completed, sales not made, and drawings and CNC programs less efficient, safe, and reliable.

A life-long PC users now says: Buy a Mac.

Jim

*The Excel chart drop-down element selection list does make formatting charts easier.

FWIW, Re Vista vs XP...I'm not that down on Vista as it works ok if you have enough RAM memory...but for this application the computer simply has to run XP as the $12,000 measurement software won't run on Vista.

Although you say you want "new", I don't know if refurbed or recertified might be close enough to the definition. In any case, check out buy.com's stuff. They have had some availability of XP-loaded factory recertified laptops and desktops. I specifically recall some IBM Thinkpads with XP being available.
I have recently (over the last 8 months or so) bought a number of Dell computers for my company, under the XP+Vista option. We are all still running XP, except for our programmers. These all were under the no additional charge arrangement through Dell Small Business.

I recently heard (my 9-5 job is high end IT) that microsoft has discontinued supplying XP to force the hardware vendors to sell only Vista systems. Any XP systems you find for sale new are simply leftover stock.
I found (9 mo ago) that HP was still selling Business systems online, with XP, but not a single consumer (retail) system with it. At least they realized that XP was still necessary, at that time. A quick look on hp.com under small/medium business shows that they still offer a 'downgrade' to XP. Prices start at 399, but probably does not come with a monitor for that price.
You might also want to look at the 'thin client' models. Most come with XP, starting at 199. Not sure of they would meet your needs otherwise.
http://www.hp.com/sbso/busproducts_PCwkstn.html

John

Judging by the ads MS is currently running on TV, there must be considerable resistance among users to move from XP to Vista. I have XP and see no reason to upgrade, as am quite happy.

This is not a direct response to Milacrons question, but probably reflects the difficulty he is having finding what he wants. MS obviously does not want to support two operating systems any longer than they have to.

TRY the IBM website. They have refurb desktops with XP starting at $199 including shipping. I have bought 2 of these and they both work great. Scottie.