First Laptop - help?

[BlackTigers91]

My parents and grandparents graciously offered me a laptop as a grad present, and I have $600 to work with here. (I can use more, but it;s OOP)

What am I looking for?

Uses:
Firefox.
MS Word.
AIM.
WMP.
uTorrent.


That's all I'd use it for. I still have a desktop for when I move out, so I can use that for anything more intensive.

How are the processors right now? What am I looking at for a decent processor?

The RAM I'm not too concerned about, I can upgrade for cheap.

Brands? Acer or Toshiba good? HP?

Thanks

 

[repoman0]

Might want to look at a netbook if you have a desktop already. I bought a nice IBM T400 with LED screen, C2D, etc back in October and I'm selling it for a desktop and netbook combination when I come back from school for the summer. You could find something for around $300 or $350 and pocket the rest of the money

 

[criccio]

I do all that with ease on my netbook. Its in my sig.

 

[BlackTigers91]

I looked at them at first, but I just can't get used to that screen. I borrowed a friend's Aspire One for a week and was not a fan of that screen.

I'll have the desktop, however it'll be at home, so I'd like another computer in my apartment and for class. Didn't clarify.

 

[Dangman]

How are the processors right now? What am I looking at for a decent processor?

The RAM I'm not too concerned about, I can upgrade for cheap.

Brands? Acer or Toshiba good? HP?

CPU wise, try to get Pentium Dual Core. Just about any of them will do just fine for your needs. Brand wise, Toshiba, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Gateway are all pretty decent. The only Acer laptop I've played is the netbook one and that was pretty good. Not too sure about Acer's actual notebooks though.

Do you have a Best Buy or other B&M that sells laptops?