I have a 1 year old Toshiba Satellite...love it.
My sister bought one a couple of months ago, and is also very happy with it.

IMO...best bet for the money.
Stay away from Dell...they are getting worse every year.

i have a 17" widescreen HP pavillion EXTREMELY heavy laptop that i lugged around to landscape jobsites for 2 yrs. it has taken a ton of environmental abuse, like working in the rain on a covered porch w/ mist blowing on it LOL. i have definitely got my $$ worth on it. DH has a Acer he just got last aug to replace a thinkpad IBM dinosauer. his acer is a fraction of the weight but does overheat when running very intense DVD burning like programming bit maps on movie DVD's (the dvd add on features). most people would never burn DVD's like that but if you do tech work you might need that kind of power. his was also 1/4 the price and is just for his college work, if it made it 1 yr we would get our $$ out of it and just get another cheap acer.

if you are willing to send a laptop in for every little thing then an apple or gateway would be o.k. most non-chain repair places don't work on them, most chain repair places rip you off. my dh is a techie-wizard and does our stuff & simply because he can not work on apple or gateway easliy we do not get those. ~ liz

I just bought a Gateway M Series laptop. 15.4" monitor, wide screen. Window's Vista, integrated wireless internet, webcam, microphone and card reader. So far I love it!

MacBook Pro is the laptop I have, and it comes with all the software. I love it, and the service support is excellent. I sometimes wish I had gotten the 15" screen model because it is over two pounds lighter than my 17"er. I put an iSkin over the keyboard to keep out crumbs and kitty fur.

Apple gives educator and student discounts, so you might check with someone at the college about that. They cost more than some, but for the quality and service you get your money's worth, in my opinion.

The Apple store is a fun place to try out all the different computers and ask questions. Ours give ongoing free classes as well, and experts are available to help.

My husband was given a Dell laptop from his job and he had lots of problems with it at first. I don't know how many hours he spent on the phone with technical support just waiting to talk with someone. It is working okay at the moment, but I can't say I'd recommend it.

Thank you for your help. My laptop is a 10 year old Toshiba (with Windows 98) and also weighs a ton.

Samkaren
your resident DJ

I have an Apple imac laptop with the 14" monitor. It comes with Safari for the internet. I'm not fond of Safari so I use Firefox. (I hate PCs.)

Linda

I have the Compaq Presario widescreen. It is heavy and tends to overheat now that it is 4 years old. I ordered it from the HP website which was easy to navigate - easy to order only what I needed and not get too much software I'll never use. I'll probably stick with the same brand again - only smaller. I also use Firefox.

Apple doesn't give you the diversity of software that PCs offer but if you're just looking for something basic and reliable, Apple is a good way to go, albeit a spendy way to go.

I have always had good luck with Toshiba. They're well known as one of the best values out there for quality, price and durability.

Compac and HP are the same company, and less than desireable unless you really baby them. Dell is not even on my list of consideration anymore.

Thinkpads are still good units although pricey.

There's a couple of very durable units out there if you're looking to spend $3-$4k for a unit. I have a hard time justifying it. I think you're better off buying 5-6 Toshibas instead!

One that surprised me valuewise was the Everex I got my sister from Walmart. Good price and a well-built unit. I worked with it about a week, setting it up and tweaking it and I was very pleasantly surprised. She's been very happy with it too.

No matter which you go with, if you're talking PC and going with Vista, be sure to get at least 2 gig of RAM and the biggest hard drive you can get. Have a good backup system of course too.

I have a Dell that I just love. Wouldn't trade it for any other brand.

SamKaren,

What do you want to do with the computer? Are you familiar with Windows?

I just spent close to 8 hours researching a new one for me. I went with a Toshiba P305. I looked at features, value and reviews of similar models by the manufacturer.

I just got it last week and I'm thrilled with it. You can get more details about it from Amazon. Mine has Vista, 17 inch screen, 3 GIG memory, 250 Gig hard drive, fast processor,web cam, fingerprint reader & Harmon Karmon speakers. It's $899 on Amazon. I think that it's a great value.

My network admin brother told me to get 3 gigs if you get vista.

The link below is a pcmag article that was very useful to me in deciding what I wanted to get.
The Toshiba P305 for multi-media, which I suspect you may be interested in. We've had notebooks since they have come out and have always had great luck with Toshiba or Thinkpads.
I can't keep track from year to year if Dells are good, or if it's an off year and they are having quality issues.

If you tell us what you want the laptop to do, we can provide better suggestions.

If you are browsing the internet, most if not all browsers are free. I like Firefox, because I think it is less prone to hacking.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: pcmag buying guide for college grads

I can't keep track from year to year if Dells are good, or if it's an off year and they are having quality issues.

This is an "off year" for Dells. They stink...
Oh, and last year was also an "off year."
I've heard next year will be pretty crummy, too.

Dell's are pre-programmed to die a week out of warranty.
Oh, you got the extended warranty? Great, but don't expect "new" parts. They will send you REFURBISHED parts.
Of course, you won't know which parts you're getting because you can't understand a d*mn thing they tell you on the phone.

*sigh* Sorry, can you tell I had a bad Dell experience?

My laptop is a Dell, I've had it about a year. I've had no problems with it at all. Luv it!! A lot of the software I wanted came with the laptop. My mistake was ordering a large screen which makes for a heavy laptop. Don't make my mistake. Check the weight of the laptop before you buy. Good luck. Charlene

I have had terrible luck with both Acer and Dell. I have decided to purchase a Macbook. I have been waiting since February for Apple to come out with a redesigned Macbook. It looks like my wait may have paid off. It seems like they are getting ready to launch a less expensive notebook line.
Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: apple notebooks

I have had a Dell for 5 years and just purchased a new one for my DD for college. Never had any kind of problem with either. Loving the Dell

The only thing we use it for is surfing the web. I sometimes use it to create documents but nothing fancy.

I really appreciate all the advice.

Samkaren
your resident DJ