I'm looking to buy a new laptop. I don't really care which OS (XP or Vista). Vista would be nice, but it doesn't really matter to me at all. I'm perfectly happy with XP.

I am constantly running Firefox, IE, Thunderbird, Napster, Word, and some smaller programs like Notepad++, AVG, etc. And often use Visual Basic and Photoshop. I'm sure there will be more added to that list as I enter each new term at school.

I used to have a Toshiba and I really liked it. It was fast and could handle alot of open programs at one time. It was a bit big, though - 15.4" widescreen. It seems the smaller you go, the more expensive it gets.

Can anyone recommend a laptop that would suit my needs? I'd like to spend under $1000 and I don't want something too heavy as my books are heavy enough already :p

Any help would be appreciated :)

Seems I've passed the time limit for editing my original post..

I'd like to add that I'll take actual laptop recommendations or even just the specs I'd need to look for..

yeah if you do want vista youll need a gig of ram - xp will be happy with half that. Take a look at:

toshiba
dell
lenovo
acer
hp

I recommend either Acer or Toshiba. I've found them both to be very reliable, and decent machines. If it doesn't matter to you about Vista, I'm sure you can save lots of money by opting-out for a cheaper model running XP.

indeed. xp is still good for about 2 years

indeed. xp is still good for about 2 years

XP is good for as long as your computer lasts. It's never going to stop running, even if Microsoft stops supporting it. And since XP is so good already, I expect lack of support from Microsoft will do little to extinguish XP.

once xp updates stop it wont be long until security flaws become exposed and people get hacked so bear in mind that after 1 jan 2009 youre on your own

good purchase

Excellent choice. Enjoy your brand new PC! :)

Thanks. I am so far :)

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