[kevchard]

Acer laprops are good VFM and offer the advantage of driver updates over the internet etc.
As prev said steer clear of pcw~~~d type machines (eg emachines, advent, pacard b@@@@@@s etc).
Pentiums are good for powerfull work eg graphics and dvds.Celerons are cheap and good for t'internet and office applications. Centrinos are more powerful than celerons, but not so powerful as pentiums.
Dell do a good budget range aswell