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Thanks Josh and everyone. What about the 1280 x 800 resolution? Is this an issue with a 15" screen?
but for hardware, it is worth it for me to have a warranty that assures in home repair within 24 hours !
Get a Mac. Â That is the way to go. Â Mac, Mac, Mac. Â Get a Mac.
For what you're using it for, I'd go with one of the $399 deals that they routinely run every weekend now.  They're plenty powerful. Best Buy had this last week, instore only:Compaq Presario C714NR   *  Intel Pentium Dual Core T2310 1.46 GHz Processor   * 1GB DDR2-533 Memory   * 120 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive   * Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive   * 15.4" WXGA BrightView Display (1280x800)   * Intel GMA X3100 Video   * Wireless 802.11b/g   * 10/100 Mbit Ethernet   * 56k Modem   * 6-Cell battery   * Windows Vista Home Premium$399 for the above config.  They had a similar one the week before for $399 (the 713). Â
I bought this one on Sunday. Â If you are not gaming, IMO it is plenty. Â I mostly surf the net and use office and thats about it. Â I spent about an hour removing all the extra software I didn't need then loaded up office XP and its been good to go. Â It hasn't locked up on me once or given me the stupid errors that ask me to send info to Microsoft. Â (I was getting those multiple times a day on my 3 yr old laptop, which was top o line back then). Â While my kids are probably to blame on why my last laptop ended up being so crappy, I now believe in spending the least amount of money, not buying any extra warranty and then just plan to upgrade a few years down the road.
I typically tend to go overboard when I buy PC's. I figure the extra money will buy more time before it's obsolete. Maybe for once I will go low end.