help with finding budget laptop

[supremeone]

I've looking to spend around $200 or so.. well I guess my spending range max would hover at the most in the $250 to almost $300 range. But I'd hoping to spend no more than $200 or $220.

Anyways been checking out ebay for some good laptop deals and seems like a decent amount of choice. But i remember last time i was trying to get a processor on ebay and someone suggested to look at the trading forum here. So i'm going to do that. In your opinion, do you think the outcome would mostly be the same whether I buy from ebay (as long as the seller has superb feedback) or hardforum?

All i'm really looking for is a decent laptop, heres features i'm looking for:
-monitor that's around 14 inches or higher
-wireless internet
-preferably dual core
-good video card or chipset capable of playing a game like Counterstrike. (hopefully upgradeable though rather than a chipset). I'm not really planning on gaming much on the laptop but it'd be nice to have the option.
-at least 40 gigs of hd space

So heres the questions i'm looking to have answered
1. Is it okay to buy on ebay, or is it largely better to buy from sellers on this forum?
2. which manufacturer or models should i be searching for? Is there some real good midrange laptops from dell or compaq I should be looking into? So far the dell latitudes come up quite a bit
3. Any deals you guys could point me to with a link? If not thats okay, I appreciate any suggestions
4. Do laptops die often? And if so how easy are they to fix? I don't want to spend $200 and than 6 months later it dies and i have to buy a whole new system again.

 

[supremeone]

here are some choices i was looking into with listed video card or graphics controller next to it. Most are dual core too. Of course the sales are over now but I'm assuming could probably these systems again for a similar price point. Only been looking at the hp and compaq's so far, going to check out dells soon.

HP NC6400 Intel Core Duo 2.0GHz 2GB CD-RW/DVD drive - Intel® 945GM Express Chipset
Compaq Presario CQ61 Notebook PC Laptop, 4GB Memory - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Graphics
HP Pavilion dv5000z Laptop Computer ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress graphics card with 128MB of VRAM
HP CORE 2 DUO P8600 6530B NOTEBOOK LAPTOP 2.4/2gb/250gb GMA 4500MHD
HP Compaq nc6230 Centrino 2GHz/1GB/60GB/CD-RW Laptop - ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 graphics controller (PCI Express)

 

[jflail2]

I'd be curious what anyone had to say here as well. I'm looking for a laptop in the 2-300 range for a friend who only needs to surf the web, check email and use itunes. Any retail recommendations would be appreciated as I don't have a clue where to look for something this cheap...