Recommendations for a laptop?

1st thing to do when you buy the laptop is to use a credit card that gives you extra warranty protection. Some credit cards will double the warranty period on products you buy. Check it out! Also a credit card company can help protect you & can help you if you end up with a lemon and need to return it.

Go to a store like Staples where someone MAY know what they are talking about and can demonstrate some of the features you would like to use.

Make sure the software you want comes with the computer because software can COST MORE than the hardware.

ALSO if you plan to play movies or whatever on your laptop make sure you have them demonstrate that at the store and LISTEN to the sound of the DVD player. On mine I cannot stand anything to play using my DVD because it is so noisy and vibrates the laptop so I don't use my DVD at all.

Make sure it has a read and writeable CD/DVD drive and plenty of usb ports for printers, cameras etc...

Make sure the battery is guaranteed for a specific amount of time if you plan to be portable without electricity a lot. OFTEN the actual battery time sucks and the screen is too dim when on battery only power.

I got a Gateway from Staples 2 years ago and have had no problems with it and it was a great deal.

If you find one you want then go on the Internet and look for coupons and deals at that Staples or whichever store you choose.

Now with what you've stated above I personally would suggest Apple MacBook.

I've always been a windows user so I had my doubts about switching to Mac but the thing is that Mac is much more user friendly than windows and you'll get used to it in next to no time.

The MacBook comes with the iLife package that has great features and will cover all your entertainment needs. You'll be able to watch videos , create quality videos and etc. The list goes on and on.

Besides MacBook is portable, very very reliable, has a very solid anti-virus program, has a wireless connection and has a couple of USB ports and basically has all you would need in a laptop.

Now if you're a game player you might want to consider MacBook Pro but if you're not then the MacBook should do just fine for you.

The MacBook generally comes with 1GB of RAM but can be increased to 2GB which is very good.

Besides the processor speed is excellent and it comes with Intel rather than AMD.

Hope this helps,

Good luck :)

Haha..

I am in the same boat..

Although right now, I am looking at the

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6347

Bestbuy has it for $1,299.. You can get it cheaper, but Bestbuy, I can just order it and drive ten miles and pick it up..

Basically, the Toshiba is a '17, HD DVD player. Has Core 2 Duo, 1.6GHz. 2Gigs of RAM.

It's certainly not the best, but seems very good for the price. I am thinking about getting it and just adding another 2 gigs of RAM from bestbuy (They have a gig of ram for only $40). So it should run like butter. Although I'd like the CPU to have a little more of the GHz, it'll do just fine.

Dell has a crazy Customization system, but they don't have the HD DVD. Not that it's special, but it really is to me. If you could care less for HD, then maybe you should go with Dell.

Oh, here's a link to the computer..

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?seg=HH...

And Bestbuy has it cheaper.. CompUSA has it for only $1,199... if there is a CompUSA near you.

Talk to several reputable computer dealers in your area and see what they have to say. We could give you advice, but it may not apply to laptops available in your area or the price range you wish to pay.