need help picking a laptop for my sister.

[eds]

My sister is going to college in the fall and she is looking for a good laptop.It would need all the basic stuff and anything she would need for business in college.Shes looking for a reliable and inexspensive laptop.please recomend ad laptop thansk ethan

[pcstuff]

Dell has several decent notebooks under $1,000 (http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs) (click on choose at the bottom to see all the choices and to customize). They are not the toughest notebooks, but for the price are quite a deal. If she want to use it in the class room, ge the lightest one possible (I'd suggest less than 6lbs), smallest screen she can stand (means more battery life) with still as much horsepower as she can afford. If she is just looking for a desktop replacement, weight doesn't matter and you should be able to get the same horesepower for less.

You can also enter Dell's "Back to School contest" (http://dell.eprize.net/backtoschool06/index.tbapp?page=intro&&affiliate_id=&noflash=flash). Who knows, you may actually win one for her!

Software wise I'd suggest to get Office Pro, although it will add quite a bit if bought with your laptop. You might be able to get it for less elsewhere and install it yourself or even have your sister get an academic version once she has a school ID.

If she wants a tough and light laptop, check out the Lenovo brand (http://www-131.ibm.com/content/home/store_LNV_PublicUSA/en_US/notebooks/index.html) (used to be IBM). They are a little bit more for what you get, but are tough sons of b#^%$^.

Hope this helps!

[penguinrusty]

Whatever you do, make sure that you get a laptop with the core 2 duo or the core duo processor. Those things are the best. The Core 2 Duo 6300 ($128) outperforms the AMD FX-60 ( a $1100 processor)

[guitardrumr123]

As far as software gos, check out some of the freeware stuff available on the web. OpenOffice is a competent substitute for Microsoft Office, though the slideshow program is a bit strange. GIMP for photoediting, Firefox for Intrawebs. Just look around, there are all kinds of freeware programs that you can use. If you do end up buying software though, don't buy it from Dell with the laptop. Use the Student discount and buy it seperate, that way you can use it with more than just the one computer.

[stampede_dude]

You don't have to have the best of the best for college...look on www.fatwallet.com in the forums to find great deals on laptops among other things. If you look for a while you can get some great deals.

[JMan8108]

Ive had my toshiba for just under a year and i love it

[stampede_dude]

Here's a great deal on a Toshiba from Best Buy:

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/641266/

[penguinrusty]

All the best buy's are sold out of that lappy :(