Dell laptops are manufactured by Acer.

Stick with a thinkpad.

That being said, I would recommend that you look at a comparable R series machine. Also, bump the RAM to 1GB, or leave it at 512 and add 1GB once you get it.

Why look at the R series? pls explain, for home use maybe?

thanks all for the reply, i too like the Thinkpad better but it is for a friend and i think she is going to get the dell deal.

tell her to get the extended warranty.

I did !

Acer =:scared:

It's all about expectations. My financially challenged Aunt, needed a machine just for surfing the internet, nothing else. So an Acer was ok. She also knew that it would probably break in a couple of years, and she would have to get a new one. She has 7 grand-children who would be banging away on it when they visit so why waste the $$$. I surely wouldn't have recommended that she get a thinkpad for this situation/use.

Please tell us the source for the discounted Thinkpad?

try this link

http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...0001&langId=-1

I wish I needed a new laptop.

http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?id=889558

Lenovo™ 3000 N100 (0768-DKU) 15.4" Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology And Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5500
$649.99 after rebates

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5500 operating at 1.66GHz