hi mysteriousdrx,
after a brief discussion with my friend (pakar laptop), here are the conclusions:
i) not only
aspire, but all brand new laptops do have problem in installing Windows XP since the vendors doesn't provide any driver for XP anymore. (This is because Microsoft had stopped XP production and release).
ii)
Dell will give it's customers options to pre-install XP, but the customer still have to buy the Vista OS. Still need to pay for it...
iii) We personally doesn't recommend
Compaq since its under power. (means it will be still very slow even though the spec is very good)
iv) and a budget of rm2500, not much choice u can make.... hahaha. (many good one are more expensive than that)
v) my friend also said he prefer
Dell over
aspire since he had some bad experience with
aspire.
(his personal opinion only) 
vi) if u want more information on laptops, you can visit
http://www.notebookreview.com. It even listed most popular brands.
