what to avoid in a laptop

[psycho d]

Hola. i am in the market for another laptop. All i really need it for is for writing huge papers (500,000 words+), maybe watching dvds, and for surfing the net. i used to do some photoshop stuff, but see no need for that in my immediate future. My current living situation does not allow for a home PC, and i would like to do some coffee shop work. Also, i am looking for a machine that won't die just after a year (my last Toshiba died within 13 mos, and i babied it). i am leary of Dell, if only because i had my Dell swiped. i have kinda been outta the loop, so all of the latest stuff is kind of intimidating (duel core or 2 core, is AMD stuff any good, 2 Gb memory seems like a lot but is is enough, etc.). From the little research that i have done, i am almost tempted to just p/u a $500 dollar laptop from the local Best Buy, but i am seriously susceptible to buyers regret when buying something relatively cheap, especially when Newegg looks to have some pretty decent Acer deals with 2 core precessors (not that i know what that really means). Any comments or even support would be highly appreciated. TIA.
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[gamerman4]

Dual-Core CPUs are pretty much standard, you would be hard pressed to find any new computer with a single core in it.

I would stay away from laptops with Intel GMA graphics chips, nVidia and aTi make graphics chips that are much better (even if they are integrated).

Acer makes very high quality components so I would trust anything from them.

Unless you are playing big PC games there is no reason to spend any more than $700 on a laptop, even sub-$500 laptops are more than enough for basic office work. Get at least Vista Home Premium, Vista Basic isn't worth it. XP is still viable for ultra-portables.

If you search newegg, you will find laptops with CPUs named "Intel Atom" these will give you excellent battery life (often 5-7 hours) but they aren't the powerhouses that their Core 2 Duo brothers are. If you do get one of these "ultra-portables" then makes sure they have a DVD drive since some might not. The most famous of these ultra-portables is the eeePC so if you go to your local Best Buy, you might be able to see one and see how you like it.

If you have a budget then we could help find something that would suit you.

Don't be afraid of going to best buy, often their deals can be just as good as the ones online. I bought my laptop from there for $200 less than normal retail prices. Also, Best Buy doesn't do rebates so any savings are instant.