Laptop advice needed for a Laptop Newbie

[Mule]

I've decided I need a new laptop but I have no idea what I should really be looking for. (Do I want a netbook or a notebook? I have no idea)

My requirements are that I will use it to browse the internet, run Dreamweaver, Microsoft word, send/receive occassional emails using outlook express, and print documents.

It'll need wireless internet, battery life is unimportant as it'll probably never leave the house and will only be away from a power source very occassionally - the same applies to weight.

I thought about buying second hand but from the looks of it I wouldn't save much by doing so. Refurb would be fine. I'm not bothered on the OS (as long as it's windows). Doesn't need masses of storage space. Price is a major consideration.

So any advice? Or any links to recommendations?

[ka$h]

What's your max price?

This is £289, get some extra RAM from Crucial and you have a decent budget machine

[Mule]

Budget is I suppose... £300. Really though I just want it to be able to do the functions I mentioned at as low a cost as possible. If I got the one you mentioned would I really need any more ram?

[Mule]

Got tired of putting it off and went for a TOSHIBA A300D-13X refurb from PCworld for £309.99 (and 4% quidco cashback) Hope I haven't made a mistake.

AMD Turion 64X2 Processor TL60
(2.0 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
2 GB Memory
200 GB Hard Drive
DVD Super Multi ReWriter Drive
15.4 " TruBrite Widescreen Display
Face Recognition Software & Webcam
Harman Kardon Speakers
Touch sensitive buttons


Full specification Benefit
Processor Type AMD Turion TL60
Processor speed 2000
Memory Size 2 GB
Memory Type DDR 2
Hard Drive Capacity 200 GB
Optical Drives DVD Super Multi
CD-ROM Speed 24 x
CD-RW Speed. 24X READ 10X WRITE x
DVD-ROM Speed 8 x
DVD-RW Speed 8 x
Floppy Disk Drive NO
Screen Size/Type 15.4"
Graphics Card Type Integrated
Graphics Memory 319MB UBA MB
TV-out YES
Sound Type Intel High Definition
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled YES
No. of USB Connections 4
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Infrared Port Included NO
Other Interfaces 5 in 1 card reader
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Software Titles Included McAfee Internet Security
Weight 2.72 kg
Height 38 mm
Width 362 mm
Depth 267 mm
Colour GLOSSY BLACK

[ka$h]

You would only have wanted the ram for dreamweaver as apps these days seem to be getting resource greedy. It would do what you want standard tbh, but a splah more ram for £30-40 is always worth it. Toshiba's are pretty solid machines so you should be fine there. Spec wise it will do more than you need too so not a bad deal all in all. I have 2 HP's here in the house and find them great hence recommending an HP, but used to have Tosh at work and they were decent too.

The only downside to both machines is Vista but that can be easily fixed.

K