What is a good laptop to buy?

There are many powerful, affordable laptops on the market today that you can get in your price range. I've bought and used every single brand that you've listed here before and I can definitely say that HP is your best bet out of these. Pretty much any brand is sufficient for schoolwork, but if you want to do gaming, HP will probably give you the best performance for your money. Consider Dell too, they make some pretty powerful laptops within your price range as well.

I say go with HP. I've had my two HP systems for quite a few years and both are still going strong. I just recently bought a new HP desktop and Laptop, to replace the old one due to age. Both still work fine but old age doestend to make things difficult to update or replace to keep up to date. HP systems do tend to stand the test of time.

Compaq and HP are the same company, computers are made on the same assembly lines with many of the same parts.

Lenovo ThinkPads are highly regarded in the corporate world, where they receive daily lickings and keep on ticking. There's a reason they are a bit more expensive . . . .

hp and dell are one of the best brands on the laptop market

You want a laptop between 500$ and 800$.OK,But please check the link below that it is suggested on that price:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/s:Laptops:04-Price=_799:...

I think Sony vaio is better according to that link.

go with hp