Geek Squad

I was wondering if anyone has bought a laptop in the last three months. I am looking to buy one because mine is dying quickly. Because Windows 7 is coming out in October - I really don't want to learn Vista. My brother suggested seeing if they would download XP instead and then get the upgrade in October. Does any of this make sense. Is Windows 7 and XP closer than Vista and Windows 7?

Any help would be appreciated. Hopefully I will be able to read the responses before I crash for the last time.

created by Molsonator on Jul 28, 2009 at 02:18:12 pm Technology Comments: 6

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Comments ... #

At the current time your best bet is to purchase with Vista already installed and the get the free upgrade to Windows 7 that a number of places are offering.

I'm not a Vista fan, but I have had a really good experience with my test runs of Win7. Win7 just feels smoother and more friendly than Vista.

The idea of having XP installed and then upgrading to Win7 would be feasible (if you can find a place still doing that). The catch though is that Microsoft is not providing a direct upgrade from XP to 7. What that means for most people is you would have to back up your data and reinstall programs after upgrading.

posted by apophistoledo on Jul 28, 2009 at 03:01:07 pm #

There is not going to be any path to upgrade from XP to Win7. If you have XP and want to go to 7, while MS callis it a "Custom" install, it is actually a clean install from the start, requiring all the normal backing up, saving, etc.
So yes, if you want Win 7, get Vista for the free(?) upgrade.

posted by angryconsumer on Jul 28, 2009 at 03:39:05 pm #

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2350740,00.asp

posted by angryconsumer on Jul 28, 2009 at 03:56:10 pm #

Thanks to all.

posted by Molsonator on Jul 28, 2009 at 05:53:55 pm #

My brother got a laptop with Vista and hates the OpSys. I use XP-Pro and I'm also somewhat fluent with UNIX.

The problem with Vista and Windoze 7 is that there are hardware compatibility issues. If you get either Vista xor 7, do not expect any of the hardware to automatically work with your system. This includes network problems as well as the standard 'device not recognized'. M$ will shift the blame to the hardware manufacturers, saying that they haven't written a driver for it. Well, they haven't, and they may never do so.

What ever laptop you buy, my advice is to get XP-Pro and forget the upgrade to Vista or 7.

posted by madjack on Jul 28, 2009 at 06:00:03 pm #

I picked up a couple laptops for work about 2 weeks ago from BestBuy and they have some good deals going on. They have/had a nice Dell going for $349 that (comes with Vista ick) but has a free upgrade to Windows 7.

At this point downgrading to XP isn't worth the extra cost (you'll basically be forced to pay for Vista, then an additional downgrading fee of $100+).

I'd say try and suffer Vista till 7 comes out. I have RC copy of Win 7 and it's pretty solid.

If they offer you any GeekSquad protections decline they suck.

My sister in law bought a EeePC there for $179 and paid $100 for an extended GeekSquad warrantee. It ended up having a corrupted drive, and they said it wasn't covered but they could fix it for $150.

She gave it to me, I used the built in restore and it back up and running in less than an hour.

At least the one on 20 is incompetent.

posted by INeedCoffee on Jul 29, 2009 at 10:51:26 am #

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