Notebook used to refer to a laptop under 10 lbs.

The term netbook is used for the small screen less powerful ones gaining popularity because of lighter portability.

Mac is short for MacIntosh computers - both desktop and laptop.

A year ago I bought my 1st laptop. I read the big box store ads every Sunday and googled the ones in my price range for specs, reviews and anything else I could learn.

I decided I wanted a 15" screen, 2 GHz speed & Core 2 Duo processor, 3 Gb RAM (can upgrade to 4 Mb), B thru N WiFi (N wasn't available in my price range), ordinary graphics (don't game so didn't want to pay for a dedicated card), DVD read/write. Didn't care about a webcam but they all had them. Would have liked a SATA drive (over my price range).

Today I could buy my laptop for 1/3 less.

You have to start the comparison shopping task after you decide what is important for your needs. Spend some time at the stores and take notes. Unfortunately even salespeople can pass along faulty info. I had decided on a Toshiba and ended up with an Acer Aspire and it has good sound quality which I had neglected to consider. Got lucky. A friend got an Asus with a SATA drive and loves it. A little over $1000.

Lucky you ~ you'll get Windows 7 instead of Vista unless you buy a Mac.

the things that you need to let us know is exactly what you want to do with it and what type of hobbies you do that you will be using it for, like photography, video, gaming, etc.

I just bought my husband an Acer Aspire Laptop for his Christmas gift, I got it at bestbuy on sale for $329. It is all he will need for sitting in his recliner and reading and surfing and using some woodworking design software, It has an AMD Athlon processor it is a single core not double or quad he does not do anything heavy that would require that kind of processing. It has 3gig of Ram and 160 gig Hard drive plenty for him and it came with Windows 7 home premium. Now I am having to learn Windows 7 to get it all set up for him. It is a full laptop not a net book so it is larger and heavier.

So it just really depends on what you want to do with it and how much money you want to put into it. Right now there are great prices so really no need to spend a ton of bucks.

Now I am having to learn Windows 7 to get it all set up for him. It is a full laptop not a net book so it is larger and heavier.

Naughty naughty! Are you playing with it now?
Shame on you.
Don't wear it out before Christmas.
I hope he doesn't see it before the big day!

ctstar,
Here's a link that I found informative.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best inexpensive laptops reviewed

Oh he already knows unfortunately, I had to get it all set up and cleared of the crud programs, put AVAST on it and Malwarebytes and all his favorite card games etc, and his favorite software. But it will be put back in the box and under the tree so he has something to open since we are doing Christmas at my families down south.

I even loaded the kindle and all the books on it for him.
Of course I will be the one maintaining it so yes I am playing with it so I can try to learn windows 7. I have made good headway thanks to some great online tutorials.

These are probably stupid questions, but here goes:
1. Could I use a laptop/notebook with my regular HP printer?
2. Would I have to do anything special to use it any place in my house or out?
3. My niece uses an attachable hard drive for pictures - why not just use a memory stick?
Thanks so much!

1. should be no problem you can either set up the printer on that laptop or you can network your computers and share the printer, if the printer has an ethernet port you can just plug it right into your router, there are various ways to go about it.
2. to use it wireless you will need to have a wireless router set up so you can send a wireless signal for the laptop to access, any new laptop or netbook will have the capability of using wireless built in.
3. either will work, external hard drives come in larger sizes and are also often used for backing up the computer too.