To buy a laptop without an operating system?Yes or no?

Thats true,but just to find the history on a mac take several clicks to switch off needs a drop down menu these things have to be learnt!

Macs also cost a lot!!Today i also have applications that will only work with windows.

Afew weeks ago i had a new mac in front of me & fast connection i did manage to get online.I did "click about" to see what was what but not for long.I dident have my "san disc" USB im useing now on this huge acer ill make a point of trying it when im next at the "new"(a few weeks old) mac

Perhaps the X 08?? i tried before was different??

Oddly enough i got a blue screen yesterday on an IBM i breifly used??I also thought the wifi card in the compaq was not in the best place
 
If someone needs handholding on installing an OS, then unofficial downloads are not a good idea, as many of them are on sites where you can get some seriously nasty rootkit infections

and if you have an OEM key it won't do anything, you need the actual key for the install you have or it won't install.
 
The OEM licence is just for the machine it was issued to as well - I don't think you can legally transfer it between units. The full box licences can be though.
 
the big issue with oem keys is that you can retrieve them for the machine you have by using key retrieval software, but you need the key on the sticker on the machine or cd case to do a reinstall, which not many people realise. and no, you can't transfer them between machines.

Like I said, turning into a bit of a geek fest around here, so I'm bowing out now.
 
Sounds like you have limited knowledge (like me and prpbably like most of us) DON"T DO IT!. Buy a couple of year old secondhand one with XP which can be demonstrated to you, cheap as chips. I've had an IBM Thinkpad on the boat for 6 years and still going strong although I wish I had a DVD and USB2 not 1
 
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The OEM licence is just for the machine it was issued to as well - I don't think you can legally transfer it between units. The full box licences can be though.

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I don't think that is the case. There were a number of cases in the European Courts about software licences in the 90s. Among the decisions I am sure it was ruled that in purchasing the software you were regarded as purchasing a product (not just a licence to use the product) and that the manufacturer could not legally stop you from installing the product on another machine - or selling it on to someone else.
 
when i looked at the asus Eeee i was told that with my XP pro i can download a "smaller version" which works well on the Asus size HDD.

During the last several months wishing i had my own laptop but realiseing i have time to choose one that suits my needs,ive thought of buying the asus Eeee with the aim of buying a full laptop later but the Eeee is over priced.

I looked at Dell which offer great value the X300 and X1 but those on ebay sometimes sell for 500 euros! And arnt as well built as IBM

In the end i decided to try to stay with a small IBM just as the prices reduced a bit with age and now many are sold without an OS!!The T40/41s all keep there XP pro i cant understand why??

The now old Xrange IBMs are comfortable to use well built,i even spillt a full glass of good Burgundy over the keyboard after pouring it out again and drying urgently it worked untill sank in dirty canal water

If i did go for a dell,and a place in Nice is selling some X300 for around 200 euros,i couldent aford to change again if something went wrong

There is another IBM X31 going for 80 euros stripped a 80 giga HDD costs about 60 euros the 120 80e and the 40 giga about 40e all without OS

80e for the X31 50e for a battery inc p&p another 50e for the power block come to 180 euros without an OS i would have to pay about 100 euros more for one with and old battery and OS

Looks as if i better wait a bit longer
 
The simple answer to your question is No! From the questions you have been asking you could get yourself in an expensive mess trying to install one. As others have said a genuine Windows system will add another £100 or so to the cost. Get a second hand or 'pirate' one off somewhere like Ebay, and it may simply not install at all.

Yes Linux is a much tougher OS than breakable Windows, but unless you are familiar with it, and know how to work with it, it is not so easy to use as Windows, and there is much less software around for it.

At least, so say both 'Young Harrys' who are making considerable sums of money having studied these things at Cambridge.

If you are not careful you could end up wanting to borrow my 'bigger hammer'! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
The only advice I can give is to look at new laptops. We bought one three years ago for 540 Euro, it's never given us any trouble. Second hand laptops are always a hazard as you don't know what they've seen. Fixed PC's don't have that problem, they've usually only been set up once.

It's the reason I didn't buy my former portable from work when given the opportunity (at 230 Euro, three years old): I know what I did with it.

I'm sure there must be shops with some older portables lying around - preferably with XP on them - that will sell cheap. Vista is by far not free from bugs so XP is the better option. And microsoft will support an OS for up to 10 years, which in the case of XP is still a long way away.
 
Trou
if you have the licence you dont need to shag around, just get a copy of xp, boot from the xp cd and away you go, when it prompts you for the licence number put it in, you will have to find the drivers for some of the hard ware on the net.
PM me if you want a CD of xp pro
Stu
 
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