Need help buying a laptop.

[unicycle]

Hello, I don't know much about laptops and my price range is 800-1200

It will be mainly for school (wireless connection) I think there are some decent sized programs I will need to have on it and run smoothly for the course I will be taking.

Some of the things I am looking for:

-Can't be to heavy (around 6 pounds)
-Starts up fast
-Doesn't get to hot
-Min. 3hour battery life, four would be better.
-Min. 250GB Hard Drive space
-Looking for a 15.4" inch screen (although will go to 14.1" for a good deal)
-Avg. Video Card something cheap but not horrible.
-Good Wireless capability
-Would XP be better than Vista in my situation?

Flexible for a good deal

Any links, help or just thoughts on this post would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[PrntRhd]

You can get an idea of what is available here:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=32&name=Laptops-Notebooks
There are still some XP laptops available.
If you go with Vista, you want to get as much memory as possible, either included or added by you after purchase.
Intel has better battery life right now, but that depends on the individual PC, their newer processors use less power than their older ones.

The best laptops:
IBM/Lenovo
Toshiba
Acer
with HP trending up into this group.

[unicycle]

I looked at the site, but didn't find anything that stood out to fit my needs and also be a good deal.

If anyone else has any links or thoughts on a specific laptop or two that would be much more helpful.

Thanks

[unicycle]

Finding a laptop for me is like finding a red ball in a pitch black room, when there are thousands of balls in the room.

If anyone could give some more specific help that would be awesome

[unicycle]

Anyone? Please.

[mjc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000260032+4023+103980226+104062581+1040628503&name=250GB

[Muaz]

Hi I can suggest you concern with the following sites hope you it will be beneficial for you.

[mjc]

Muaz,

I suggest not replacing your sig and if you are offering help, do so without spamming a bunch of 'worthless' sites. Better yet...get lost!

[hockey man]

XP is still faster, but it is harder to find at the moment. There are a could of XP machines within your budget on Newegg but none of them have HD's over 160Gigs. Vista is still slow, but you can find them with larger hd's. Out of MJC's list I like this ASUS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220340).

Somethings to look for. I would go intel for better battery length. Get at least a 7xxx series, preferably 8xxx series CPU. They are newer and more efficient. (The ASUS has a P8400). More RAM = more :), especially with Vista. 5400rpm drives are slightly slower than their faster brothers, but that saves power.

[mjc]

That's probably the one I'd pick out of that list, too...;)