Acer Aspire

Acer® Aspire™ AS5100-5540 English TL-50, 15.4-in. WXGA, 2GB, 120GB

(costo.ca)
1100$+tax

Good laptop overall. Comes with a built-in camera, which I recommend swivelling away from the user when not in use (I wouldn't chance it if someone manages to get a trojan onto your computer). Acer has a widget display, which allows you to check out battery life, cpu usage, etc. I never bothered with it, but some might get a kick out of it.

There's a built-in SD card reader, and three USB ports (which doesn't quite cut it in today's world). I typically always have a mouse, printer, and external memory (hard drive) that need full time affection and attention. Throw in a MP3 player or zip drive, and now you're compromising. No big worries. The speakers are adequate for listening to music while cleaning your room, but nothing beyond that.

Dell Inspiron

Dell� Inspiron� 1501 English TL50, 15.4-in. WXGA, 1GB, 80GB

(Costco.ca)

~1200$

This is probably the best Dell laptop I've seen to date. It was easy to add the extra monitor and extend the desktop (mind you, this is alot due to Windows XP). The extra video card worked to my liking as far as processing the extended desktop onto the monitor I keep at my desk.

The DVD writer worked like a charm. The built-in SD digital memory card reader further saves on extra USB cords cluttering things up. There were 4 USB ports, which finally meant I didn't have to do any unplugging or switching around. I always have my external hard drive, mouse, printer connected, and now I could keep my MP3 player charger plugged in.

Unfortunately there is no external volume control, which means the computer must be turned on in order to adjust the volume. Annoying if you're ever trying to start up in a quiet setting.