Hi, i need to buy a laptop for grad school. I`ll need it mostly for excel, word, websurfing and perhaps some stats software. I`d like to spend the least ofcourse but i also don`t want the low-end of the line. Do you have any advice? thank you

ps :confused:
i saw a decent looking Averatec 3250H Notebook PC w/ AMD™ Athlon™ XP 2200+ Processor at staples for $999, is it any good?

Here's PCWorld's top 15 for the year. Most are probably more than you want to spend but the Toshiba's at around $1500 are very good.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118519,tk,cxb,00.asp

Year after year, the best notebooks, in no particular order:

IBM Thinkpad
Toshiba
Acer

I am a happy Toshiba owner, btw. I would advise XP Pro so you can hook into any network domain.
:)

My dad is a proud hp pavillion dv1000 owner. Great price, awesome features, (Especially quick play.). Look at the display and wow. Fast. i wish it had a parallel port and a better video card, (32 mb). Customize it and buy the remote too. You can get a good one for $1,500.

Try this (http://shopper.cnet.com/Acer_TravelMate_4502LMi_-_Pentium_M_725_16_GHz_-_15_TFT/4014-3121_9-31140029.html).

You will NOT find a better value than this

Centrino
80gb drive
DVD/RW
512 mb RAM
XP Pro

go with a voodoo laptop.....completely owns

I agree with PrntRhd, get a solid workhorse of a computer, not a feature-bloated flashy one or an expensive Voodoo PC one that you won't fully use. Your needs are incredibly slim by today's hardware standards.

Get a Toshiba, IBM, or Acer. Make it a 14"/14.1" screen with XGA resolution (1024 x 768) - the smaller screen size will keep the weight down (to about 5 pounds and under). Definitely make sure you get a Centrino chipset - excellent battery life and phenomenal performance on basic apps. Pentium M or Celeron M, choosing a lower speed like 1.6GHz will keep the cost down and you won't likely miss the extra speed of 2GHz anyway. Wireless 802.11g built-in is a must, and XP Pro is a very good idea for connecting to odd networks (some networks are just configured in a weird way. Onboard LAN will be included, too of course, and probably a 56K modem but you won't miss that if it's not included! :p 3 USB 2.0 ports is quite helpful, and right now I would suggest you go for a DVD reader/CD burner combo drive. Much cheaper than a DVD burner! 256MB of RAM should be fine for now (and will save money) and you can always upgrade the RAM in like 6 months for a good cheap price. Hard drive size is more like personal preference. I wouldn't mind having only 30GB on a laptop but you may be a little different. Play that one by your own ear.

That should cover the basics. Happy shopping! :D

Why would anyone buy a Voodoo notebook to surf the net and run some office applications?

get a Centrino chipset Centrino is not a chipset. It is a "technology" (or rather, a marketing gimmick) consisting of the tripartite unity of : Intel 855 chipset, Intel Pro/Wireless networking (Single band 802.11b, Dual mode 802.11b/g or Tri-mode 802.11a/b/g) and a Pentium M processor. If a Celeron M is used, it is not, or should not, be considered "Centrino".

However, going with a Celeron M notebook is not a bad choice. The difference being less cache and no "speed-step" technology (battery power saving). It will perform almost as well as a similarly clocked Pentium M, and cost less. If you will be using it on battery a great deal, then a Pentium M is a better choice.

I would go with the above recommendations rather than an Athlon XP based notebook.