IMHO you could probably get one for a third of that price brand new that would be sufficient. I know they are getting that cheap here at least.

See, here's the thing with disc space for your personal media: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH! Believe me. this is the same case for every person I know. If you have 80 gigs you make due and complain you wan't more. If you have 160 gigs you make due and complain you want more. If you have 300 gigs you find a way to fill it all and have a hard time figuring out what to delete and want more. I'm somewhere around the 400 gig mark now and it is so pointless because the more space I may decide I need, I realize then that the more space I end up wanting. I don't think there is an end to it at all. I think any of the smallest hard drives you can get today (60-80 gigs) is well more than enough for anyone. Once you have lots of space you find more uses for it and it simply won't end. I don't think having all that much space is worth the effort or money because you won't be happy with how much you have no matter how much it is. Even if you had a few hundred terabytes, you'd eventually try to start downloading the entire WWW cause you'd think you want it.

Any laptop today comes with a dvd burner (any dvd burner can burn cds as well).

And from the laptops I've been looking at, which are all quite the budget laptops of today... they also ALL have wireless network cards.

If you are going to be paying a lot of money for a laptop you won't be paying it for the things you've mentioned. You will probably be paying it for a high speed processor, maybe dual core or something like that. And then the loads of extra cash you could end up spending would go to having a nice graphic card. Laptops have gotten quite trendy in the past couple of years, primarily because computers continue on a daily rate to become more of an integral part of everyone's everyday life. Realizing this, many of the computer manufacturers are now trying to load a laptop with a lot of power that a PC has so you can play the same cool games on them. What I am trying to say is, unless you are going to be playing a lot og high-res 3d games it isn't that necessary to spend twice as much on a laptop.

Can't recommend any from circuit city now, as their web site is down at the moment for upgrades. As for best buy, if it was me and I just needed *a* laptop and not god's laptop, I'd just go with the "Sony VAIO Notebook with Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology - White". Mainly because I like sony and the sony vaios, but also because it looks sufficient in everything it has. Of course the more you spend the better you will get, but I really don't think it's all that necessary for everyday personal use.

Most people don't really do all that much on their PC (other than games with the majority) that would warrant having such a fast processor anyhow.

that's my two cents at least.

ohh, FYI, keep in mind that buying at Circuit City will mean if there is ever a problem and you need to return it to them (even if it's completely broken) and get your money back, they have a policy that says they will take 15% of the price themselves!!! I SHIT YOU NOT. Horribly crooked policy... I made a huge scene when they tried to pull this shit on me, which would have meant they wouldnt have given me some 150 dollars back because of this. The first laptop I got from them died not even a week later when it's motherboard blew out on me just browsing the web. From personal experience I would not spend too much money with Circuit City anymore, unless you I am willing to put up a big fight and cause a commotion in front of everyone (which I really don't feel like doing). I think it's worth checking a stores refund and return policies so they don't get away with trying to screw you like that.