[Wolfstar]

I live in the Pacific time zone and will be at work shortly. Cannot use the internet at work, so won't be able to respond to this thread until after 7:00pm Pacific. But I want to thank anyone who kindly shares their knowledge with me. It's much appreciated.

[flashbunny]

Avoid anything by compaq. Or hp, they've been dragged down to compaq's level.

Avoid celeron chips.

Safest bet is to just get a sony vaio with a centrino mobile chip.

[rdb3]

Consider these things before you make your purchase:

• What screen size do you require?
  
• How large of a hard drive?
  
• Do you need it barebones or with Windows XP Professional installed? NOTE: Always choose XP Pro, not XP Home.
  
• Will you require wireless access to your work/home network?
  
• Is a DVD+R/CD+RW drive necessary?

It's hard to recommend any laptop before those questions are answered.

Happy shopping!

[Petronski]

Never ever ever be convinced, cajoled or deceived into buying a Celeron. [spit]



Also, I really like Thinkpads, but only if you buy used. The new Thinkpads are a ChiCom operation called Lenovo. [spit]



Make sure you buy an extra battery. You need one.

[ThePythonicCow]

Check out ResellerRatings.com, both for:

• choice of laptop, and
• choice of vendor.

Here's a list of the top rated laptops in the $1100 to $1400 range: Laptops - $1100 to $1400.

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Check to compare

Dell Inspiron 9300 (I9300L1) PC Notebook Product rating: Read 8 reviews Intel Pentium M 1.6 GHz, 17 in. WXGA+ TFT Active Matrix, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 512 MB, DVD-ROM, 40 GB hard drive, 7.8... Read more

$1,278 from 1 store

Check to compare

Toshiba Satellite M45-S265 (PSM40U07V001) PC Notebook Product rating: Read 1 review Intel Pentium M 1.6 GHz, 15.4 in. WXGA TFT Active Matrix, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 512 MB, DVD±RW, 100 GB hard drive, 6 ... Read more

$1,200 - $1,425 from 19 stores

Check to compare

Toshiba Satellite P35-S611 (PSP30U20H001) PC Notebook Product rating: Read 3 reviews Intel Pentium 4 3.33 GHz, 17 in. WXGA+ TFT Active Matrix, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 512 MB, DVD±RW/DVD-RAM, 100 GB hard d... Read more

$1,180 - $1,700 from 14 stores

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I own a Toshiba Satellite - I've been pleased as punch with it. I just use it as a low cost Windows desktop equivalent (I got it for $500 new at CompUSA on a Father's Day special).

You can also use ResellerRatings.com to find a good vendor. Actually, there are two laptop vendors with stunning ratings of 10 each, on a healthy number of reviews:

• PowerNotebooks.com
• DiscountLaptops.com

They both sell Sager laptops, made by Crevor. That company doesn't advertise in the U.S., but their laptops are very highly rated from what I can tell.

If it weren't for the CompUSA Father's Day special, I would have bought my laptop at one of the above two vendors, getting a Sager.