I was just wondering if anyone has ordered a computer or laptop from these guys. I'm thinking about a laptop but I don't know the quality. I would rather hear someone in these forums tell me they are good quality then the website itself. http://www.xicomputer.com/ and just in case you're wondering... here are the specs to the laptop I am thinking about getting. http://www.xicomputer.com/products/quote/printQuote.asp?configid=200330&radio=&email= if you have any suggestions on anyting I should change, the options are here... and my budget is 3000. http://www.xicomputer.com/products/Configure.asp?model=powergointelxt&configid=182126
the one problem i see with the laptop you linked to was the fact it was running Vist Home Basic... A) Vista Home Premium is more of a user friendly OS and B) i don't think that Basic supports dual core processing. i think it only supports a single processing core, Premium supports 2 cores... so i would go with vista home premium, and in order todo that and stay within budget, buy this monitor '17" 1680x1050 WSXGA+ LCD, Super-Wide Viewing Angles Glass View' as having a 1920x1200 native resolution isn't as nessacery as the power options of home premium...
I'm going to get rid of vista and put xp on there, one thing I forgot to mention =D. Are they trustworthy and are there parts good quality?
The company are good enough.. Beware the "winmodem" syndrome.. and also be aware that with bundled machines and OS like that you install xp and it goes hayware you have just voided any warranty. It is majorly possible to really screw up a laptop by changing the OS without lots and lots of research...(as people learn as soon as they format the drive and get a non boot and hardware "162 options not set" or "parity check fail". Chances are the drivers included will be vista 64 bit ones and not suitable for xp running.. Drivers and non existent hardware (I see no mention of physical sound hardware for example) could be a major problem.. plus fista.. what a bag of crap.. avoid.. even the pro version sucks big time.
okay... that is a key point... like varnull said, your going run into issues... taking a vista machine especially a laptop and going from vista to xp is no easy task, trust me, i did it on my HP which made it twice as hard... you may need to disable native sata support unless you can find the right drivers for it. and before you reformat everything, go through you device manager and find all the drivers you can for your hardware... or at least your ethernet and video so you cna then go and search for them afterwards...
i'm just telling you what i had to do on my laptop, being that it is an HP, your expirence may differ... Found all the drivers for windows xp and put them on a flashdrive. Disabled 'Native SATA Support' in BIOS because i couldn't get them to load on installation. (you may not need to) Installed XP Pro. Installed the drivers. Found I needed more drivers. (HD audio bus for example) Ran into BSOD about every 4 days... Reinstalled Vista cause I was annoyed at the BSODs... Still can't stand Vista as far as I can throw it, but its running stabler than xp so i have no choice.
Never buy a machine with Vista on it with the intention of replacing it with XP, the % success rate of doing such is dwindling. A decent manufacturer should let you choose for yourself.
I did notice they offered you the option of installing XP on it for you... So you shouldn't into many problems trying to switch back from Vista... Just go with your gut instinct... And if all else fails, ask us. Someone will be able to help you... Plus on a machine like the one you want to build, Vista isn't going to slow it down as much as it does on a laptop like mine... So it maybe better to get the Home Premium and if you still don't like, THEN switch back to XP...
