Can you still get Laptops with XP?

My Dell that I got a couple of months ago with Vista is doing some things that makes it not reliable for DJ use. I like the laptop and for normal every day computing uses it's fine. For playing music I can't trust it or use it. Some day MS may get Visa corrected and working, but I can't wait for them and really I'm not sure MS will ever solve all the Vista problems, glitches and bugs. My Dell will become our home "desktop" computer or it will go to my daughter the college student and her laptop will go to her brother who just graduated from high school.

So it's back to the drawing board. This time it's got to be XP, even if I have to use a desktop PC. Whatever I get needs to last me until the next OS after vista. All it's going to be used for is to play Karaoke tracks or to DJ. I just looked at Dell's website for a few minutes and didn't find any XP laptops.

Vista makes crackling noises when I play music, not all the time, but enough to be annoying.

I got a Behringer external sound card. It worked fine at first, then all of a sudden when I plug it into the laptop, music will only play through the laptop speakers. On my XP desktop it works fine.

MP3 files ALWAYS revert to playing on WMP as the default no matter what I do. I have gone in to the control panel and told Vista what program to use and it works for a little while and when I reboot the file associations are back to what they were before. I even told vista not to have WMP be active. Next time I booted WMP was back like a freeloading relative.

I can't use my Beringer USB SC to play or record music when I'm singing my Karaoke tracks because music comes out the laptop speaker during playback instead of going to the mixer. (Update, I just rebooted after having the laptop off over night and had the behringer plugged in when it rebooted, now it IS working, but if you go into the volume control and click on Mixer and then change to a different device the change is ignored).

I called the guy who wrote the article about all the problems with using a laptop to play music a moron. I take it back. I'm a moron. He was absolutely right and I publicly apologize.

I'm thinking about getting a dual CD player instead of using a laptop-too many problems and unreliable. I've purchased 2 Vista laptops to use them as music players and I have had problems with both. Friggin Vista is pushing me to Apple or Linux or to use a CD player.

I took great pains to 1. Get rid of all the junk after I got it. 2. Have only vital processes running. 3. Immediately update Vista including SP1. I'm at the end of my rope with vista and went against my gut instinct and better judgment 2 times. Back a few months ago when I got the first laptop I should have gotten one with XP and we wouldn't be having this discussion. My bad. I wanted the latest and greatest, I wanted to be current, I wanted a new laptop. The latest and greatest isn't that great. Rockit may work great on Vista, but Rockit doesn't do Karaoke and that's the primary thing that I need. arrrrgggghhhhh

I would never put itunes on one of my computers. I tried it a couple of years back and quickly took it off that computer.

Right now I'm listening to music using a program called Karafun, it's a Karaoke program, but it will play MP3 files no problem. You can download it for free. I'm using it at home to practice my singing. It has both pitch and tempo control for Karaoke files.

I still need a professional Karaoke program for when I go out and perform though. I was going to buy the Powerkaraoke Pro KJ hosting program, it's $99, but it doesn't have tempo control. It has pitch control, but I need to be able to change the tempo on a lot of songs I sing. I need both pitch and tempo control.

Since the Behringer SC inexplicably started working again I'm not getting the crackling anymore so it may be some incompatibility between Vista and the internal Sigma tel sound card or Sigma tel codec, heck the internal SC may be just software for all I know.

But the only thing that explains the file association reverting back over and over after being changed is Vista. You can tell Vista that you want MP3, WMA, wave etc. to be associated with a certain program and it will always revert back to WMP. I've done everything possible except deleting WMP. I've been using a player called Quintessential player that I like a lot in addition to the Karafun program, but if you just click on an MP3 file WMP will launch and start playing the song. I really wish Rockit would play Karaoke files, you could pick up a lot of business. Rockit looks awesome, I just went to your web site a little while ago.

I tried winamp when I first got the Dell laptop and it was unstable and crashed so I immediately deleted it. The Karaoke program that Jokerswild uses, autokdj is a winamp add on and I was using it on my XP desktop before I got the most recent Vista laptop.

I bought the PCDJ blue and the Karaoke module on Amazon.com and had lots of problems with that when I had my toshiba laptop a few months ago. I finally went to their offices here in Clearwater and they fixed it. when I got the Dell laptp PCDJ blue and the Karaoke companion program wouldn't install on the Dell either. I contacted their technical support and after a few emails back and forth they gave up trying to figure out what was wrong and just stopped responding to any emails. I've been thinking about going to their offices and try to get them to install the PCDJ Blue and the Karaoke program on the Dell, but that's a hassle. I wouldn't recommend PCDJ to anyone based on my experiences with the installation problems and their terrible technical support.

Well, for a few more days you can still get a laptop from Dell with XP on it.
There are a couple of models that you can get with XP home and for an additional $99 you can upgrade to XP Pro.

So what's the diff? I've always used XP Pro. Is it worth the extra C note?

Well, then I can just get the laptop with XP Home and see what's what. If I need what Pro has then I can just buy an OEM copy for around $100 later. As far as me pinning my hopes on XP, I just need something that works for the next lets say two years or so and then on to the next thing. I have no reason to be against Vista. If it worked for me I would use it and just shuffle along quietly. I just need tools that work. I don't care how they work or who makes them, I just want to be able to do what I need to do without problems or interruptions.