Greetings all,

Have just spent the last two weeks deciding on the TR2 and just found this forum tonight (as well as yahoo groups). Very informative and friendly.

My 1st quandary is which version.  Using the TR2A as a baseline, I think I understand that:

TR2AP1 - upgraded to WinXP Pro
TR2AP3 - upgraded to WinXP Pro/1GB ram/802.11g

Mostly, I think I will use it for DVD watching on travel (which I do quite a bit), web/email and music burning/listening.  I also will use it to do my OBDII VAG diagnostics on my Audi.

Looking through Yahoo shopping, NewEgg has the TR2A for $2058 with a $100 rebate.  And even though I have WinXP Pro at home, I don’t see a real need to get the AP1 unless someone can convince me otherwise.  NewEgg has the AP1 at $2153 with NO rebate. So, that’s a delta of $195.

I have the LinkSys BEFW11S4 802.11b WAP router at home, so I’m not sure I really need “g”.  I won’t be doing any large file transfers, and if I really need to, I’ll hook up the cable.

If someone has any suggestions, warnings or recommendations, I would be most grateful.

Thanks,
Amro

Well, the price for the TR2A is pretty good right now especially with the rebate. For most home users, XP Pro is not a necessity. The only real big difference is in the networking and security features. XP Pro works a lot better in corporate environments and has features built-in to support that.

The TR2AP3 was designed for high-end users and corporate users who need maximum flexibility with maxed out memory and b/g wireless options. Again, for most people, this is not a necessity. If you have multiple systems and routinely large amounts of files between the systems then g wireless is nice to have.

But it seems like your needs aren’t too major so the TR2A will work out for you. You can always upgrade the memory and wireless later if you really need to. Know that upgrading to XP Pro will be a tedious process and very difficult to do.

Great, thanks for the input. Yeah, I stayed up about 2 hours past my bedtime reading a lot of the posts, so I have an idea about that.  I know one thing.  After a couple days of usage, I’ll be wiping the backup partition and reinstalling what I want from DVD I order.

Thanks again,
Amro

Newegg is great, I’ve purchased lots of computer hardware from them over the past few years and have always been pleased with their low prices and excellent selection. Unlike other online vendors with low prices, they actually have things in stock, and get them out to you pretty quickly. I wish I had waited to pick up my TR2, but I just had to have one, and ordered it from Sony, which ended up costing about $400 more than you can get it for at Newegg.  :(

Cool, just decided on the AP1 as well.  Place my order 11:00 am CST with the rush processing option and overnight delivery. Hopefully it’ll be in my hands tomorrow evening.

Their $100 rebate on the “A” was a mistake. It was for the Z series, so the price delta ended up being only $98.