Sure, glad I could help with that. For your <= $850 price point, I think Cheetahcat’s suggestion is a good one. Something like a Dell Studio 15 with an I5 processor in it would meet your needs. I wouldn’t go less than 4GB of RAM if you want to run Windows 7 — and I would very much recommend running Windows 7 rather than XP.
Bought both my computers today:
Thanks for the help everyone.
Sony VAIO VGN-FW590F3B Notebook PC - Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.20GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, Blu-Ray Burner, 16.4” Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Black
Toshiba Satellite C655-S5056 PSC08U-01Q01E Notebook PC - Intel Pentium Dual Core T4500 2.3GHz, 4GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6” Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64