Geek Girl’s Got a New Laptop!
Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions in my previous post, Help the Geek Girl get a new laptop!
Your suggestions were great and very helpful! THANKS! 
After consulting with many, many websites, reading your suggestions, talking to a couple of “computer gurus” and comparing dozens of computers, I finally settled on the Toshiba Satellite U305-S7467 13.3” Widescreen Laptop.
This laptop meets all of my requirements - small, widescreen and powerful! 
Then, the most difficult part happens - how much is a “fair” or “good” price to pay for a new laptop? The last time I bought a computer was several years ago, and I vaguely remember how much I paid for it.
I was looking for a laptop under $1000, and I was able to find the Toshiba for $849.86 at Circuit City - this was actually the lowest price I could find! 
The specs are sweet on this 5 pounder -
- 2 GB RAM, expandable to 4GB
- 200 GB hard drive
- 1280 by 800 widescreen display
- Wireless card that’ll work up to wireless n, the new industry standard
- Windows Vista Home Premium (should work great with 2GB of RAM)
I’ll be getting home tomorrow, and I’ll spend the day testing it out - so expect some comments or a review from me later!
I used to have a Toshiba Satellite at work, I loved it - it finally gave up the ghost and I still miss it… (It was pretty old…) It had some great features and I would recommend Toshiba to anyone.
This is my first Toshiba. My first laptop was an HP, then I got a Dell (dude, I got a Dell!
) As far as desktops, my first one was a no-name brand that a friend of mine gave me - trusty little computer, too! Then I got a Compaq, which I’ve passed on to my mom.
I don’t know if brand names mean much, but I don’t think I’ll buy a Dell again. The customer service wasn’t that great, and for the price, I could have gotten better features elsewhere.
I started with a DELL desktop and I’ve actually still got it (at least that was my first Windows PC - I had a couple of DOS computers before that - Oh yes, I am THAT old…!)
Since the DELL, I have had two no-name computers of unknown origin and have been pretty much happy with them (especially as I didn’t pay for them). I like the DELL as it has never let me down, and they replaced my monitor for free at one point, and it’s real quiet when it’s running which is a good attribute. If it were any more upgradable, I would still be using it as my main PC, but I’ve taken it to the max…. without changing the motherboard.
Dirtcheap
My previous was a Toshiba protege, all went well till the fan broke down. Luckily that didn’t affect the harddisk so I had plently of time to continue working with it before changing it.
Maybe I shouldn’t have used my laptop next to a contruction place
That might help, Linky!
I’m really enjoying my new laptop, so I can’t complain at all 
[...] upgraded my computer system in January - and initially, I was upset because the laptop I wanted only came with Vista. I heard [...]