recommendations sought for laptop meeting these criteria?

Rob

2011-05-19 14:00:24 UTC

Post by h***@yahoo.co.uk
- fast (for running maths programs)
- 14 inch monitor
- sold without operating system
- can run XP Pro SP2 without problem
(I will be using XP Pro, but could someone advise on x64 vs x32? I
would like to run all my old programs that run on x32. Would there be
problems doing this on x64?)
- can run Word and Excel 2003 without problem
- lots of RAM, all available to XP
- lengthy warranty, 5 years if possible, otherwise 3 years
- decent connectivity: 4+ USB slots, multi-card, Firewire, etc.
- decent GPU, so *not* Nvidia
- decent and fast CPU, hard drive, multi-format DVD drive etc.
- good build quality, keyboard etc., not a 'budget' machine.
On the other hand I do not need to play 3D games or have a military-
spec ruggedised case etc.
Recommendations?
Thanks!
Michael

"> - sold without operating system"
That may be the most difficult thing to find on your list!

If you want to use a 64-bit OS, then Win7 Pro is the way to go,
not XP-64 as Pro and Ultimate have "XP mode" for running 32-bit
applications, and it works well. XP-64 has always been a bit
picky and is no longer fully supported.
Note that no 64-bit version of Windows will run 16-bit software,
so *really* old stuff (eg some DOS and Win3.1 apps) won't work.

--
Rob