Vista vs XP, Overclocking in the 8510p?

I'm going to purchase the 8510p after I work out a few kinks with shipping it to a relative in the US, but had a few questions that I thought I should consult with the experts here first.

1) There are 2 versions up for sale, the Vista and the XP. If I were to order the vista and then get a copy of XP from school, whats the degree of difficulty in installing/finding drivers? (ie. I'm seeing problems with ATI drivers on XP in other posts)

2) I was originally considering the Asus G1S or the T61p for their 'gaming' cards, but their prices were out of range so I went with the HP. I know the card in the HP is underclocked so I was wondering if anyone had tried overclocking and if the results were on par with the thinkpad or the asus?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to insightful replies

 

Get the Vista version. Microsoft will provide you with a free winXP key should you want it and a disc for a few $ too when you've got a copy of vista premium or above. My 8510p vista business came with a copy of winXP in the box, I didn't try to install it but since the vista discs were pre keyed/authenticated I presume the winXP would have been too.

 

Wow @ speedy the reply

Getting XP isn't my main worry, its getting the drivers for XP that's the problem.

Mr. Ric, I'm also looking to get it from shopblt (since its cheaper than HP shopping or w/e HP offers). But I was wondering about shipping costs. If you are comfortable with sharing how much you paid and the specs of the machine, it would be greatly appreciated (mainly using it for reference).

Thanks

 

Beware there have been multiple reports of people not being able to overclock in XP after upgrading their nvidia drivers, including me. I got a dell vostro 1500 with an 8400M GS.
THe stock XP drivers (101.28) were overclockable, but once I cleaned those out with driver cleaner and installed 158.22, it was no longer overclockable.

 

I just ordered an 8510p from shopblt - this config. No tax for California purchasers, and no shipping costs! They shipped the item the following business day, ground, from TX.

 

I also ordered from shopBLT. Very good experience The price I paid is in the link in my sig.

As to O/Cing, there are some results on this page
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=178575&page=2

Vista was the OS I think.

 

Well my relative was reluctant to help me with purchasing in US so I'm looking for alternatives (too many unknowns with cross border shipping). I've look at NCIX and they have the same model (RM269UT#ABA) available for ~ $100 more (but they I save on shipping and other unknowns). Is there any difference b/w the one available at shopblt and NCIX, since one is in US and the other in Canada?

Link to NCIX: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=4244275&vpn=RM269UT#ABA&manufacture=HEWLETT PACKARD

Btw: Anyone know of NCIX's price matching policies and where I can find the price match button?

 

The models are indeed identical. As to price matching you'd have to email NCIX and ask. I think it might just be with Canadian companies but dunno.

That extra hundred bucks would probably go to brokerage fees if you shipped it direct from shopBLT so either way...

 

Thats exactly what I'm thinking too, and in the case of DOA units. RMA procedures is much easier with NCIX than with Shopblt (in terms of location).