Thanks for the input guys....
I am leaning towards Dell strictly because of their warranty, in that if my dad has issues with his laptop he can go directly to them, as he isn't very technically inclined.
Say I've got it down to either the Inspiron 6400 or 1501...is the diference in Memory and Video Card that significant??
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...dt1&l=en&s=bsd