I recently used my friends laptop I'm not sure what brand it was but it seemed pretty fast and I think he paid about 1000 or so and it's only a 1.4GHz or so he said.

Strangely another friend had one too and I saw that hers had a huge screen was really fast I think it was a 1.8GHz and it seemed pretty lightweight it said Acer 3000 or something.

But my question is this I want one and I don't want to spend too much because I had one an IBM thinkpad and my parents paid probably 1200 or so for it and now it's so outdated it's not even funny.

These are my requirements

1.6-2.0+GHz (Don't know which one is better I like AMD but Intel?)
15-17in screen widescreen
512-1gb DDR RAM
DVD Burner or CDRW/DVD fast (not sure what speed)
integrated wireless
decent video card around 64mb -256mb

I will mainly be using it for college
but I want to be able to play some of the new game, watch movies and listen to music
good battery life
decent sound card
upgradability if there is such a thing
3-4 USB 2.0 ports
at least 1 firewire

I'm new to buying a laptop as this is the first one I've ever bought but my price range I figure is anywhere from $500 to $1000

I was looking at an acer and a dell

any suggestions on what to avoid or look for when purchasing?

This is the acer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115256

This is the dell: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=E1405S2&s=dhs

This is the hp: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh..._components.do


Thank you for all your suggestions and replies.

I would say the Dell is far Superior to the Acer. The HP link is dead.

I would still try to narrow the selection down to what it is exactly that you want to do with this laptop.

well the dell is only a 14.1 in screen I'd like to have a big screen if possible, and like I said I want to be able to do pretty much anything on it. When I want to anyway I won't use it to play games that often but the option would be nice.

It will mostly be used to watch movies, listen to music, write papers, browse the net, and download things and it will also be used as a remote terminal so I can access my other pc from it.

I'd like to be able to play GTA San Andreas on it with out any lagging with high settings Also Rise of Nations, from time to time.

The main focus will be movies and music and wireless intrenet.

Is there a such thing as upgradability with laptops I don't want to buy one for under a 1000 and then it be useless in less than a year.