help on a laptop purchase

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So two questions, what type of computer, ie processor, graphics card, memory etc should I see about getting, and two do you know about any dealsl?

There's a lot of options you have and finding the right laptop can be quite a challenge.

Personally I'd go with something that has Core Duo and at the very least a Penitum M. Graphics card, on-board is fine for watching anime. Memory, 512 is okay but 1GB would be preferable. I'd also recommend going to local retailers and looking at the screen quality in what is offered. (Don't let the salespeople know you are interested in buying!)

What I would keep in mind is basically some benchmarks in your own mind as to what prices seem about correct.

On newegg you can get this unit for under $1k and it's really nice. It only lacks in 2 areas, DVD Burning and it has 512MB of RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834114239

As for brands to look at... I'd say to look carefully at HP, Toshiba, Dell, and Sony.

Brands that are just okay... Acer

Major brand to stay away from: Lenovo

Do be careful with Dell though. They are a very tricky company with their marketing. Their prices look sooo tempting but often what you get won't be worth your while down the road. Configuring what I listed above as requirements, a Dell Inspiron E1505 comes to around $930.

I also think the Macbook idea is a really good option. Macs typically only allow you to select really good hardware settings so you'll be set with that. Additionally you get all of their great software packages that come pre-bundled with the system.

Also if you are watching lots of anime with this then you might want to later down the road get an external hard-drive of some sort. Tigerdirect regularly has a 250GB kit on sale for around $100 (drive + enclosure) or you can get an enclosure and any size drive you want to fit it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.