Okay - so the Lenovo gets respect here - but not unilateral. There's still a plug for Toshiba. Raven - you're right - I do want XP. The one I linked to included a downgrade to XP option. At the time I was looking earlier, that's the only option I saw for XP. Since reading your post, I've noticed Lenovo's with preinstalled XP at Newegg and Tigerdirect, I think. Or maybe it was also at Best Buy. I don't want to get involvd in having preinstalled Vista - and then switching it myself to XP. If that were within my capabilities, I would have switched my husband's operating system from Vista to XP. But from what I read here and elsewhere, it's a huge undertaking - that might leave some problems in the end. Thanks for telling me that this really is a good time to buy. I'll be researching over the next week. In the end, I think prices are low enough - and my inexperience high enough, that I'm better off buying new and not dealing with potential ripoffs and how many new things I would need to do to check out a used laptop thoroughly. I probably could do it if I had to (based on your detailed instructions on the other thread) - but I could imagine that taking a long, long time. And if the first laptop isn't good, it could be quite a time killer to search for several. I did note that Lenovo's come in a huge range of prices and options - from many $600 units - up to the seeming popular T61P thinkpad for about $1700.

oh that's what I feel about the dell dh bought!

" The anti-virus company bearing his name was acquired by Intel for $7.68 billion in 2010, but McAfee has not been affiliated with it for more than 20 years. He says he has been forced to work on multiple film and book projects to make a living." I have no problem using McAffee. It comes with my internet provider and has saved my computer many times. I also don't care what he may or may not have done in his life, as there has not been any proof. I watched a story about the murder quite some time ago. I refuse to use a "free" online anti virus (yes, mine is technically free, but the cost is in my monthly bill payment to my internet provider). And will never buy Norton after we spent about $100 on it, then a week later got a virus so bad, my son couldn't get his computer to turn on and Norton refused to help. I love the fact that computer companies can remotely help you with your computer. You just sit back and watch the mouse do this and that and next thing you know, voila! Your computer is in perfect running condition. I think it comes in especially handy for people who are not computer savvy. Our head office often uses it on my computer at work. I will explain everything I've done and they still insist on me connecting them, so they can do what I did and it doesn't work for them either..... snicker.. Here is a link that might be useful: The Interview of McAffee (if you're interested. If not...scroll on by. ) :)

On my Lenovo flex 14, the malware put little banners and pictures over everything on a webpage. For example, if you were on a shopping site it would put little banners and photos on top of photos of things you were shopping for, so that you had to click and close each one to see the items underneath you had selected. It also seems to have prevented installing Adobe reader and flash. Many web pages were weirdly partly blank. I tried uninstalling the malware and it had little effect. I think the articles are right in that you need a special tool to remove it. Lenovo a said it was releasing a special removal tool sometime today. Most importantly, the Lenovo Flex 14 and the Yoga 2 Pro were both intentionally infected by Lenovo. Why should anyone have to spend hours removing malware on a new laptop that you just unboxed and turned on for the first time? The kicker was when I called Lenovo tech they claimed they knew nothing about this and refused to help. It was a Lenovo conspiracy to defraud the public. I hope one of the fed departments fines them a huge amount for every laptop they sold with malware. I hope billions. Lenovo defrauded me out of over $1500. They shouldn't get away with it.