Maybe also look at what operating system the laptops come with as well... I guess most would come with Windows Vista now, but anyway we bought a Compaq laptop for $1000 Australian ($700US) and it's been great, aside from Vista takes up so much resources that it almost downgrades the hardware.. I'm sure this laptop would be more impressive with XP..

For that price you'll get a really decent laptop though... There isn't anything i've had to do on here yet that it hasn't handled perfectly... Perhaps if you're into video editing etc then the power will become important, but if you look for a good deal, you'll get a great Laptop period for that...

Add a tick for Compaq though...

Actually no, one thing that has driven me NUTS with it! It doesn't have a volume control.. You have to hold down a button and then press the tiny F7 key to turn the volume down.. OR you have to do it manually in the desktop... SO many times i've wanted to turn it up or down and I just wish there was an easier way....

Maybe little things like that you can seperate one model from another..