Be aware of cheap prices.
They usually only last a year, with luck.

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Woohoo me too. Only I have an option and my fiance isn't amused as its the upgraded one of his.

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The Pevensey Bay Disaster
Moriarty: My nerves are strained to breaking point.
[twang]
Moriarty: There goes one now!
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Bloodnok: I bet you five pounds you'll live forever, starting now!
[pause]
Bloodnok: You've done it! You've lived forever!
~Spike Mulligan

I have a sony vaio (about $1200) and it workds really well

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dont go hp, only because of there little touch pad. they make wonderful machines, but the little mouse thing is really tacky and annoying to use.

Dell overprices there OK machines just because there the biggest name in business.

I wouldnt go apple. the hardware is ok, but they charge you soooooo much more. its kind of ridiculus

Newegg.com - Apple MacBook MB402LL/A Intel Core 2 Duo 2.10GHz 13.3" WXGA 1GB DDR2 667 120GB 5400rpm DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Intel GMA X3100 Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard - Apple Laptops $1100
Newegg.com - HP Pavilion dv2990nr NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5750(2.00GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA 3GB Memory 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS - Laptops / Notebooks $930

the second one (hp) has 3 GBs of RAM, the first (apple) has one. the hp has a geforce 8400gs dedicated graphics card, the apple has Intergrated memory. (that means the graphics card is part of the motherboard and cannot completely dedicate itself to graphics. so the HP is a MUCH better computer and is almost $200 cheaper. hmm...

but, for your needs, you would probably need something around these lines:
Gateway - Laptop with AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 - Pacific Blue - M-1625

i know vista can be a hassle sometimes, but with 2 GBs RAM in your system, it will run GREAT.

jic you were wondering, im runing a toshiba laptop with 2 GBs ram, a 140GB HDD, and an AMD Turion 2.40 GHz CPU. I am also runing Vista premium and its been great. if your looking for something a little cheaper i can probably help.

not really. there are many types of core 2 duo processors, a lot of which suck. but usually if its over 2.0GHz itl be fine. i prefer AMD myself because of there equal performance and cheaper price. though a Intel processor is more efficient (Intel 2.0 = AMD 2.4), if you find the right AMD its wonderful.

Whatever you do, make sure you've got a decent amount of ram and a good processor. You're likely to have many things going on at once. Music playing, an instant messenger, downloads, internet browser so your laptop should be able to multitask well.

Also, look online for some free coupons. I was able to take off $200 off my HP tx2000 tablet with one.