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Good deals are out there. Last week a compusa deal was a nice 1gb/100gb/a64/wifi/15"/dvdr/xp 5pound unit for $299 shipped. Watch xpbargains.com, dealhack, etc.
OTOH, if you plan on moving it around daily, try to avoid the fragile low-end boxes. For instance, Dell latitudes are much better at taking punishment than Dell Inspirons. The other strategy is to buy the cheapest POS you can find along with extended damage protection insurance.
XP is readily available. Hell, even office supply stores are stocking it again. For machines with XP look to the business lines. Dell has a broad selection of both XP and Vista boxes.
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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
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