I also had no problem removing Vista and installing XP Pro... on my T3400. Likely Dell isn't "messing with the BIOS" on the T3400 like it appears they may be on the Vostro.
I have tech friends in the Dellworks. And we will deny, deny, deny....but here goes. Vista is like an intellegent angry tick, only on some models. There were some tests done with installs that had some bios restriction links (locks if you will) as a way to stop techs and sharper, pissed off consumers from reversions. There's a huge market in that right now as evidenced by my pocket being just a tad fatter these past few months. I've been told, can't really verify yet, that Dell is in limbo about whether or not to continue the bios links as they can be problematic in some models using Vista anyway. I've had success doing low level reformats. I generally do it twice as that has semmed to be able to give me kerosene confidence in my installs. In over 30 redo's, I've only had one that was able to cause a second attempt. I'll generally flash the bios before doing the XP install also. Hope that helps someone out there!
Well, ain't that sweet? I get a new rig and the O.S. is shoved down my throat, like it or not. The Sicilian mafia could learn a trick or two from these guys.
Folks -- Just turn off all the Aero shit on Vista, then shut down the indexing features, etc., et voila, you have XP. It's not that big of a deal.
Does it give back that hard drive space and start working with the equipment that I had working with XP?