[McG]

i guess it all depends where you want to spend the balance over the entry price.

any new computers should work just fine in the existing environment, but the premium that a person will pay covers the future.

right now, i use a number of different manufacturers and specs for a variety of different purposes.

i use a lenovo tablet as my primary work computer - its mobile and light and i love the tablet functionality for meetings and stuff like that. i do find it underpowered though...i notice it but not sure that others would and it is tricked out with 4gb ram.

my secondary work machine is a lenovo t500 with 4 gb ram and it is a great machine...i really like it. what i don't like is the weight...for most people this is either a big deal or no deal at all...but the lenovo is a good machine.

i have a cheap acer that cost $500 and i really like it as well...its small and light and it does everything that a person could want. its more powerful than a netbook but it has much of the same functionality.

i had an hp hdx laptop with a 20.1" screen...it was more like a movable desktop and it weighed a ton. i loved the graphics and everything else about it but it weighed so much that no one wanted to use it because they were worried about dropping it.

i have an hp 16" hdx machine and i have intentionally saved this one to the end. it is the best balance of the ones listed above for graphics and processing power at a good price point.

i certainly couldn't find fault with any major manufacturer of laptops these days...they all make pretty good machines.

things to look for are screen size, separate graphics card if you need that power (and have a real look at this because these can really give the machine extra oomph), the fastest processor that you can get, 4 gb ram, draft n wireless, gigabit network card, and see about getting m$ office thrown in.

things for you to think about: weight of machine (including battery and power pack), size of screen, bluray rom, and operating system.

while i wouldn't want to disparage one processor over another, i think it is just too early for the quad core mobiles...if you are able to wait these will be more prevalent in the future.

if you can wait, i see that m$ is offering a free upgrade to windows 7 if you buy between certain dates...i think may or june to january next year. if you can wait...you should. free operating systems are usually worth it.

i also don't get the hate for vista; i run it on every computer that i have except for my 2 desktops (too old to run vista well) and i am rolling it out at the office. i find that people don't like the functionality of office 2007, for whatever reason (which btw i find completely crazy), and they blame vista.

i certainly would keep an eye out for windows 7 though as it is supposed to be a great operating system.

good luck!