xp only avail until may 20 - suggestions?

Hi,
I have been thinking of getting a T61 for my daughter for school for next year, and every time I ask a tech's opinion on XP or Vista they say if you can get XP, do it. We have been really busy and I have been putting it off, and today I saw on the website that XP will only be avail until May 20. I guess this will kind of force us to act now.
This is what I was thinking of, do you have any suggestions?
7658CTO ThinkPad T61 with Integrated Graphics - 1 Year Depot Warranty
Edit
Ships in more than 4 weeks** $1,709.00
$1,281.75

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9300 (2.5GHz 800MHz 6MBL2)1
Genuine Windows XP Professional12
14.1 WXGA+ TFT
Intel GMA X3100 GM965
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (2 DIMM)
Integrated fingerprint reader
160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
CD-RW/DVD-ROM, Ultrabay Slim5
6 cell Li-Ion Battery60
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty7

Processor1 Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9300 (2.5GHz 800MHz 6MBL2)
Operating system12 Genuine Windows XP Professional
Display type 14.1 WXGA+ TFT
System graphics Intel GMA X3100 GM965
Total memory 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (2 DIMM)
Pointing device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Fingerprint Integrated fingerprint reader
Hard drive4 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Optical device5 CD-RW/DVD-ROM, Ultrabay Slim
System expansion slots PC Card & Express Card Slots
Bluetooth Integrated Bluetooth PAN
WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (US/CAN/LA/AP)
Modem Yes - AMoM
Battery60 6 cell Li-Ion Battery
41E9580 2 Year EasyServ + 2 Year ThinkPad Protection for 1 Year EasyServ ThinkPad $279.00 $279.00
41A2477 Computrace LoJack for Laptops 2 Yr lic. $66.99 $66.99
41N8460 ThinkPad and IdeaPad 90W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter $109.00 $109.00

Thanks for your input.

 

I read smwher that microsoft was planning to increase the life of XP.

 

They might increase the life of XP but it doesn't mean vendors will continue to ship machines with it pre-installed. My feeling though is that so long as customers are demanding it they'll keep selling it.

Anyway I think my next install will be Vista 64 bit, so long as all my devices will work with it. It may not be the best choice right now but a year from now it probably will be. With the laptop you have spec'd, I assume it's for 4 years of college. The laptop should last that long with those specs. It might be a dog compared to the new ones then, but it'll always run Office like a champ.

 

I see this topic a lot on the forums and mostly see the Vista haters. Its a simple way to look at it, if you want Vista get it, if not get XP and wait for the next OS to come out in 2010. So many people want to keep XP, but for some reason are worried about not having Vista.

I have no problems with Vista. Sure it has its quarks and bugs, but most can be fixed with some good tweaking and proper setup. Its funny to see people all about XP, but still wonder how to buy Vista and convert back to XP. If your happy with XP then stick with it. If you want to go with Vista, your limitations are few and far between.

MS is extending XP, but you have to meet the strict criteria of HD size, processor speed and screen size. Meaning it will be sold with the umpc's and compact line of PC's like the EEEPC.

 

There is nothing wrong with Vista (now - it sucked majorly upon release), it is a great OS. I am running x64 Vista both on my home PC (Ultimate) and R61 (Business) with 0 problems and it is super fast, much quicker than XP was on my prior notebook. You might want to consider using 3 GB or 4 with Vista, though. I ordered my notebook with 1 GB and put in 2 GB more for only $15 (Amazon rebate).

As for Vista tweaks, just be sure to turn off UAC (user access control) under user account settings cause it is EXTREMELY annoying otherwise. The other main tweak is to limit shadowstorage size - Vista by default uses 10% of a drive (would have been 16 GB on my drive ;p) when it only needs around 4 GB max.

Also, it doesn't matter whether you are using XP or Vista, make sure to either reinstall the OS or uninstall alot of the Lenovo apps when you receive the laptop. Alot of those apps are what slow systems down ;p. I did keep Presentation Manager, Power Manager, Active Protection System, and On-screen Display.

 

I agree with Reinhardt, there's no reason not to get Vista unless you absolutely have to run some software only compatible with XP.

And just a suggestion, if you're getting this machine to send to college with your daughter, I highly recommend extending the warranty to four years with the accidental damage protection (thinkpad protection). I'm a college student, and I work in tech support for my school part time. Our recommended Thinkpad configuration includes a 4-year accidental damage warranty, and based on the damage I've seen occur to notebooks at school it's worth every penny. Other than that the specs look good unless she's going to be doing a lot of 3D-intensive stuff, in which case you'd want the discrete nVidia NVS140M graphics card option.

 

You may want to consider that Windows XP won't be supported for the next four years (I believe).

That means your daughter will have to upgrade the operating system at some point in college anyway.

 

Windows XP Pro is supported to 2014.

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&x=14&y=14&p1=3223

 

Did you also notice that (conveniently) starting on the day after, you will be able to order a "downgrade to Windows XP DVD" with any purchase? And that the DVD will be (conveniently) shipped along with your computer? It's not the same as an out-of-the-box install, but you'll still have the option of getting a new ThinkPad with XP. Lenovo isn't going to let go of XP that easily.

No more XP...wink, wink, nudge, nudge

 

That is really a better deal, because now you get no DVD copies at all, with any OS....

 

Looking at your configuration, I recommend you to get the minimum amount of RAM from Lenovo, and buy one outside. It's MUCH cheaper.
And, since you're buying a laptop with an integrated graphics card, getting a 65W charger is sufficient.
If your daughter is going to carry it around much and use the battery power often, I recommend the 9-cell battery as it gives a longer battery life. It's not flushed with the back, though. Your daughter may not prefer that.

Yes, it is supported to 2014, but it's the end of the Extended Support.

The dates are:
Mainstream Support Retired 4/14/2009
Extended Support Retired 4/8/2014

Mainstream Support Retired - The date when Microsoft no longer offers direct support (free and pay per incident) and non-security updates.
Extended Support Retired - The date when Microsoft no longer offers security updates and pay per incident support.

Which means...By mid 2009, XP will no longer be updated with non-essential features and improvements. And by mid 2014, XP will be support-less.
Then again, XP is a solid platform in the first place. And you won't have to worry about viruses because all the hackers would have moved on to Vista and Windows 7.

In this case, you're better off waiting till after May 20th, buy the laptop with Vista, and then request the free XP Downgrade DVD. This case, you get the best of both worlds.

 

It's the Microsoft XP license that Microsoft is ending on June 30th, 2008; from that point on, they want everyone to get the Vista Business or Ultimate license (which legally permits the downgrade to XP Pro). Vista Home versions do not qualify for the XP downgrade. Manufacturers will most likely offer PCs with the Vista license and XP downgrade after Microsoft ends the XP license date.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/sep07/09-27xpsalescycle.mspx

HTH.

 

Has Microsoft created any useful software since the release of Vista?

 

That's true..

 

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. It really would make sense to order after and get the DVD, then she will have the choice.
Thanks also for the suggestion regarding 4 yr easy care, makes sense - even careful people have accidents, maybe more on campuses. I had looked at the lojack because the security people on campus said there were a lot of thefts in the library etc. Should that be increased to 4yrs?
One question regarding warranty and installing RAM, does that have any impact on the warranty?
Thanks again for all the great advice!

 

Installing RAM won't void the warranty. If there are a lot of thefts on campus, it probably makes sense to extend the theft protection as well.

 

Thanks MattB, it is nice to hear from somebody that is on a campus as well.
In your prior post you had mentioned that if she was using grapics intensive programs to upgrade that card, she doesn't play games but she does watch some dvd's and is going into a chem program ( I don't know what she will be using for that). Am I mistaken in thinking she will be better with the integrated graphics card for this?
Thanks again.

 

Well, late in the Chem degree she most likely will need to use some some graphic intense programs to display proteins or molecules. But that's about 2-3 years later. I think the integrated card can handle it, but with a discrete card it'll be smoother. If you want to use the Thinkpad for 3-4 years(and I promise, it will. It's like a rock.), you might want to consider a discrete graphics card. A discrete card will help in other things as well like dvd watching and general display.

However, getting a discrete card reduces the battery life of the notebook, and it gets hotter too. It really depends if she's going to be very mobile with the notebook, or to be used as a desktop replacement and carried around occasionally. From you purchasing the lock, I assume it's more or less fixed on the table most of the time?

Getting the added warranty is recommended. University is like a war zone. Accidents, theft, etc. For me, it's better be safe than sorry.

 

It looks like it adds $75 to the price of the machine to go to the discrete graphics option. She'll likely be fine with the integrated card unless there are some programs for chemistry that are really graphics intensive. If there are, many of those programs are run in labs anyway rather than on students' personal machines. I have friends who are chemistry majors and they haven't had to run anything hugely graphics intensive.

Just for comparison, this is the Dell Latitude D630 configuration that my school is recommending to incoming freshmen this year at a price of $1280:

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
14.1 Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD Display
2 GB RAM (1 DIMM)
128MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M Graphics Card
120GB Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink Power DVD
Intel 802.11 a/g Dual-Band Mini Card
Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Module for Vista
5.1 pounds
10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet
Windows Vista Ultimate, Sophos AntiVirus, and PDFWriter
Four years of Dell CompleteCare. Dell CompleteCare offers warranty and accidental damage insurance.

 

That looks decent as well. And it's a Latitude, which means it's pretty sturdy too.

 

Thanks, I have had good luck with Dell in the past for desktop system and an older (5 years still running Inspiron) laptop.
I had been thinking Lenovo or Fujitsu because they sell/service them on campus. If she has a problem and doesn't have to send it away, I thought that would be an advantage. Any thoughts? Would it make sense to wait and buy it through them as well?

 

In this case, still go for the Thinkpads.

 

Definately go with a product that can be serviced on campus. That's why my school strongly recommends a specific model; we have parts and technicians onhand and can often have a turnaround time of less than a day when a student's machine goes down. As for buying through the school, it depends on what they offer. Sometimes you can get a better deal on a preconfigured model through the school (the Latitude D630 config I posted would cost way more than $1280 normally, but the school's discount brings the price down). It also may be worth buying the school's configuration because they are likely to have parts on hand for that specific model rather than having to order them. I'd check out your daughter's school's IT department web site and see what configurations they offer and at what price.