2530p arrived today :) XP or Vista?

Hello,

I finally received my 2530p today, and it's a thing of beauty

The only slightly annoying bit is that HP delivered a British wall contact instead of a general European one, probably because I ordered a British keyboard. But I might still have a suitable cable somewhere, or use an adapter instead.

Anyway, Vista is preinstalled on this computer and I could also opt for XP instead. The manual doesn't say how to do that. Can smoeone explain to me how to install XP? Someone mentioned earlier that I should make a backup disk for Vista anyway. So what's the general workflow? Get the computer up and running as is, make backup disk, somehow install XP over it?

or would you recomment me to use Vista, and why?

Cheers,
SFG

 

Congrats on your new computer. If it was me, I'd stick with Vista. Why?

1. Its a big head ache installing XP and finding the right drivers.
2. I have 2 laptops running vista. Previously I have never used Vista, coming from a XP desktop. However, I have no issues with Vista thus far, one versions Vista Home Premium and the other Vista Ultimate 64bit.

I know some people hate Vista with all their might saying that its slow, unstable etc. But I have not experienced this.

 

Well, for the 2530p Windows XP drivers are available from HP's support site. Although, with SP2 for vista I really don't have any problems with it. I run Vista Business x64 on my 2510p.

 

Thanks for your answers. I'm still slightly in doubt as I hear my hubby complain a lot about Vista. I can set it to classic look, can't I? I prefer the classic Windows look and explorer over all the flashy Vista stuff.

 

congrats on a very well made baby laptop. i have the 2510p with the U7700 at 1.33 cpu. i prefer the Vista cuz it has better power options vs XP. i also did the XP downgrade option but found my battery didnt last more then Vista would so i went back to Vista 1 month later. oh and if you want more battery life but that baby into power saver mode and get the 9 cell battery and enjoy over 7 hours of nonstop computing. i even thought of getting the 2530 for just the color, the color and the little light on top really made it for me but i dont want to spend more money on another laptop.

 

Hi Yotano,

is it legally possibly to go back to the other OS once I chose the former? As Vista is preinstalled I though I'd try it, make a backup disk and install XP should I not be happy or should some of my old games not run properly. Can I then go back to Vista one day, or even install Vista again and buy a Win7 upgrade? I don't think I'll do that but it's good to have that option.

Btw, I currently have the 2510p from my employer and love it dearly. I actually prefer the dark grey finish over the new silver as it looks cheaper and more bulky. I like those old-fashioned bricky understatement laptops

 

What are his complaints about Vista? Has he even used it?

Personally, I think XP is done with. It's time to move on, the OS is older than dirt, held together with spit and fishing line. That being said, there are one or two reasons to use XP. If you have some work-related software that simply Does Not Work on Vista, and such. That's a moot point with W7 and it's "virtual XP" mode now, though.

If you want painless, keep Vista on it, it's already installed and configured.

If you want the best, get the Windows 7 Release Candidate, just backup your files regularly so you can be ready to buy and install the OEM version before March '10.


Edit: "Classic" windows look in Vista is junk. It just looks "wrong". Plus, when you disable Aero, Vista disables the WDDM and falls back to the standard software GUI mode, which loads your CPU(instead of using your graphics card). It makes for laggy window movement and updates. Aero really is faster.

 

Vista FTW. SP2 is working flawless for me. No compatibility problems in 64-bit and good performance.

 

yes i have used Vista and XP and all way way back to Windows 2.0.

and yes its legal to go back and worth all you want, only if you bought a OS from Mr. Softy. just install the OS and put in the required OS key and you should be fine. but i find Vista much better for my 2510p, i have tried XP but the HP drivers are mostly built around Vista. i just cant play some old time games i once did or they often crash on me. i really do wish i had that GM4500 vs this X3100 video card. i can play some newer games on my baby laptop.

my wish for a 2530p is the 1.86 cpu with a optical drive and the GM4500. it would surely beat my current baby laptop. but i cant complain, this thing is built like a tank.

 

Thanks for your opinions. I think I will try out Vista first even though I really don't like the looks of the aero thing, and am not happy with the explorer. I'll see how far i can customise everything to work and look as I like it.

Yotano: next time buy a notebook that is less durable. Gives you the chance to buy a new one earlier

 

Just remember that if you disable Aero completely, it's going to negatively impact screen performance. GDI is inefficient and slow.

 

Hmm, this is not what I expected. Finally fired up my computer just now, and instead of Vista it installs XP, while there's an XP Professional downgrade disk in the box.

And no spamware? I got a trialversion of Office 2007 that I need to kick off again and the installation created a tiny 1GB partition which only holds some HP tools. Convenient.

Well, lets see how good the HP customer service is in Europe.