Laptop Advice + Vista Downgrading

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Looking to get a new laptop because my current Dell is struggling to keep up with much these days and is too heavy for lugging around everywhere, which I will need to do with a new one.

What I'm looking for is one with a 2.0Ghz dual-core jobby, 2GB of RAM and at least 100GB of hard-drive space; a PC card slot is also a must.

My price range is ?700-950 and ideally I'd like it to weigh 2.5kg or less.

I've looked around, but most of what I've found has required me to sacrifice one or more of the above. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, I have no need for Windows Vista, so am hoping to downgrade to XP straight away. Is this likely to be an easy process or am I likely to struggle to find XP drivers for hardware that ships with Vista as standard?

Cheers for any help in advance.

[Gouk]

I'd say go for the Dell M1330 range - light, powerful & well buiilt

[briareos_kerensky]

In addition, I have no need for Windows Vista, so am hoping to downgrade to XP straight away. Is this likely to be an easy process or am I likely to struggle to find XP drivers for hardware that ships with Vista as standard?

Nopes, you won't have any problem in finding drivers for XP and downgrading could be done directly from MS website in the vendor doesn't allow it...the problem is if you're struck with an OEM license, probably MS won't allow for such a downgrade.
I was looking at the Vostro range of notebooks a couple of months ago...15.4" monitor, so it's small and light (what a notebook should be, not interested in desktop replacements) but packs a good hardware...with 4gbs and Vista Ultimate it come down to 1700 euros, which should be within your target range.