Investing for the next chapter of my life

I'm currently a HS senior, and my dad's like "I'll buy you a laptop for your college-life" and I'm like "let's wait a while, let's buy one in August so we can get the best possible specs for the best possible price" and he's like "k."

So I'm not going to post a link asking you all to tell me if it's a good buy or not. Not yet atleast. I've been kind of out of the computer realm for the past couple of years. I used to be obsessed until I built my dream computer 3 years ago, which I'm still 100% satisfied with and don't plan on upgrading for like a decade. But now I see that I'll need to buy a new computer soon, laptop in particular, and I need advice on it since I've just been so out of it.

I'll be going to school in the city, NYC, and I guess I'd rather invest in a lighter model without too much of a crazy sized screen. But then again, I honestly wouldn't be one of those people who carry their laptops everywhere they go. It'll most likely stay put in my dorm room, and I would probably watch movies on it so I guess that's another factor.

I don't know much about laptops can someone enlighten me on the following:

battery [what kind, how many cells, cell life, etc]
screen size [15.4" seems alright, perhaps wide-screen?]
HDD [i'll be shooting for 7200RPM, 8MB cache, maybe 100GB because I intend to store a lot of music and media on it]
DVD drive/burner [definitely, the drive atleast]
RAM [most likely a gig, not sure how much FSB]
Wireless [not sure on the details of this, I don't really know the diff. between 3945 and the rest]
Processor [atleast a gig, not sure if I'll need more but it'd be nice]
Bluetooth perhaps


Those are just a general idea of what I'll be investing in. I do think of it as an investment because I want to keep that same laptop for...ever? I won't really be overusing it. Well by that, I mean, I won't use it for hxcore gaming or anything. But I just need to be able to use it everyday and I need it to not buckle over various stresses I'll put through it.

I don't know how to build a laptop, so I'd also appreciate some places to buy it. Dell.com comes to mind, but where else could I get a great deal? I'm basically just asking for as much laptop information as possible, thanks.

-Void

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Sorry, I don't mean to be narrow minded but I'd really prefer a PC over a Mac. Not ready to make a jump really, and considering I'll be at college I really need something reliable so I can know it like the back of my hand.

These student discounts? I'd like to know more about them. Are they given from the individual retailers? Manufacturers? How can I milk this college thing out?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Can we please not turn this into a mac v. PC debate? While I respect both sides of the argument, I'd much rather prefer PC's.

Yes, I am going into a science field, so again, PC's definitely.

What type of processor should I be going for? Speaking of Intel, shoudl I get a Centrino or a Core Duo? How do those things work?

Can someone please explain to me the different types of wireless?

And how many cells of a battery should I get? 9 cell? Etc.

Thanks.

How ya doing, buddy?

I've been giving that a lot of thought, and realized that I won't be one of those trendy people carrying their laptops to Starbucks and shit. I'll leave it in my dorm room, and use it everytime I'm in the room... as if it's a desktop. So I'd choose power over portability.

I love how all of the new laptops have wide-screens. My dad has a badass Vaio which I'm really considering. My friend just got a new Dell that looks exactly the same as the Vaio, but I like Sony.

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Those Asuses look badass. But WAY too expensive. Well, it'd probably be cheaper by August. But I'm looking for like $1200 MAX. And again, I'll be buying this in August! What upgrades or revolutions in computer technology can I expect by then? heh.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?