My laptop wasa $2200 before warranty and I'm already contemplating upgrades. Then again, I really give it a workout. If you're not doing large-scale photo editing, video rendering, and gaming, you probably won't need much power. You can probably get a mediocre laptop from Dell, Compaq, HP, Toshiba, or Acer for $700. If you're going with a PC, I wouldn't be happy unless it was either very lightweight or very powerful. Sony seems to dominate that category. "Quality" is difficult to determine. If quality means strength, Panasonic Toughbooks are probably what you're looking for. But, of course, they come with a premium. I think it's worth the money to have a good computer. If money's a huge issue, find something used on craigslist or get a desktop.

I've been finding that there isn't much difference in price between laptop brands with the same specs. So what that means in my books, is that you get what you pay for. So a $700 laptop just might satisfy your needs, but it's going to be hard to determine those needs if you don't know what they are. What you need to do is talk to a few people about what you intend to use your laptop for, what software you'll be using, etc. Then get their opinion on what specs (CPU speed, hard drive capacity, memory amount, etc.) they recommend. Or alternatively, point to a laptop ad and say, "will that one do?" Now you have a baseline. But as I've said before, shopping for a laptop isn't just about specs. It's also about what accessories come with it, what accessories you can get a year after the sale (like spare batteries). How comfortable is it to use? Is it too heavy? Do the keyboard keys feel right? Does the screen display to your satisfaction? Does it have enough USB ports? People are going to hate me for saying this, but you often don't know what you want out of a computer until you buy one...... does that make sense? So, another tip I give people is - find owners of laptops and ask them what they think of theirs. What do they like and dislike about their purchase decision? What would they do different next time? Their answers may help you make your decision. Just remember, it's you who has to be happy with the model you choose - not your friends or the folks on Answerbag.

Don't spend the money on the Mac. I have had three of them and they have all crashed. I believe that it's Apple's popularity that allows them to keep their prices so high. They charge a ridiculous amount for service and repairs too. I know my next purchase will be a lower cost, higher quality brand. I'm thinking HP, Dell or Lenovo (IBM).

My $500 Dell has served me well for my personal and business needs for nearly 3 years now.

Believe it or not, I got an awesome Compaq laptop refurbished for $347.It has all the bells and whistles (2.0g memory,160g hard drive, and the list goes on and on.I found that she gives me more bang for the buck than I could ever have gotten from a much more expensive unit. I got her from www.tigerdirect.com. They have been around since before I started in computers in 1983 and customer service is impeccable. You can also find them at www.frys.com. Before you go in debt paying much more for the machine (finance charges etc), do yourself a favor and check out those two sites. They also give a standard warranty that is helpful too. Peace, Tanya aka Hippysurvivor www.hippysurvivor.com