[Keena]

I've been using computers for most of my life, and I'm very efficient with the internet and various softwares. Unfortunately, when it comes to the specs and knowing what I need and why I need it, I'm totally lost!

My "current" laptop (Dell Latitude D600) has recently bit the dust, and I am looking to buy a new laptop. The Dell was a refurbished unit, and I am not even remotely interested in going that route again. I'm really not sure exactly what to ask for, so I'll just share some information about me and hope some of you can go from there.

I am a Junior in college, looking to go to grad school, so I need something that's not going to be completely outdated in a month, but still relatively cheap ($600 or less, if possible). For compatibility with school, I will need Microsoft Office (I'm prepared to pay extra for that if need be). I've been told to go with Windows XP instead of Vista, but wasn't given a reason why (any opinions?). Music and photography are passions of mine, so I would like something to accomodate that, if possible. And the only other thing I can think of is that I'm on the internet basically all the time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Carbon]

I'd either go with the Samsung NC10 or HP Mini 2140. Battery life and keyboard are both excellent.

[Keena]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely look into those.

*edit - after looking into these, I'm really not looking for the mini laptops or the netbook things. The 10.2 screen is just way too small for me, and I know I'll need disk drives.

Does anyone have any suggestions as far as XP vs. Vista? or specs like how much memory or GHz I should stick with?

[Carbon]

There is really no reason to buy anything larger for student purposes and you'll regret having an eighth of the battery life but it's your call, I guess.