I'm thinking of getting a lap top. Anyone want to give their advice on what to look for and make some recommendations. I will be using this for mainly for internet access while on the go. I do alot my other stuff off my PC. I would like to do some work stuff on it though.

how much you plan on spending will determine what is out there for you. If you want a nice quad core with a solid video card(512 meg or 1 gig meg ram) I would recommend alienware. They are only coming out with windows 7 right now however. the 15 inch units start at 1300.

if you truly only want an internet unit for browsing mail and on the go then almost anything will suffice.

how much you plan on spending will determine what is out there for you. If you want a nice quad core with a solid video card(512 meg or 1 gig meg ram) I would recommend alienware. They are only coming out with windows 7 right now however. the 15 inch units start at 1300.

if you truly only want an internet unit for browsing mail and on the go then almost anything will suffice.

Well, I have to say the questions you asked me, I'm not up to par with somewhat. I need to research the lap top world some.

I would like to keep this purchase under $500. I know this might not be possible. The biggest thing I would like to do is keep my mail and internet use on the go. A way to surf and stay in tune on the go. Give me something to do during down time.

Music is not real important, but would be nice to have as well.

the video part really only becomes important if you want to play games, or need to run rendering type programs, such as autocad archicad sketch it photoshop flash fireworks etc. You really pay for the video graphics on a laptop.

If you only need a laptop to do the typical online things like chat, email, surfing and perhaps document creation the 500 dollar laptop should suit your needs just fine. I usually recommend that people look at costco and sams club for things such as this, hell you have 90 days to change your mind. Avoid registering for warranties and what not until you know you want to pull the trigger. Inevitably you are going to end up with a rig that has vista or windows 7. I hate vista and havent explored windows 7 but given the option of those two I would probly take a chance on windows 7. Make sure that you got plenty of ram on the laptop and you should be good to go

Grab a netbook, I'd recommend the Samsung NC10, has an 80% full width keyboard, more battery life then you'll ever need, and is under $500. even has a 160GB HDD in it so storage isn't really an issue. I love mine, use it almost daily.

Thanks for the recommends, I will check it out.