Well as my graduation gift My aunt and uncle gave me 600 dollars to put towards a notebook. I have been looking at the Dell 1100. Anyone have any better suggestions? I'm able to put in another 200 at the moment.
What do you guys think

check dell and gateways site for refurbs.
full warranty, more bang for the buck.

Just as or more expensive than new on Dells site because of there promos. Gateway is not an option for me I had way to many problems with them in the past.
Thanks tough

I also vote for Dell. My first preference is a home-built system; you know exactly what's in the computer adn IMHO maintenance is easier, but you need all of the software and whatnot, and that may not be feasible for a laptop. My mom bought a Dell last year, and it's been working beautifully!

I also agree to avoid Gateway and add eMachines and Compaq to the avoid-like-the-plague list...

Good luck!

__________________
2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

We had a graduate last year and gave her a refurbed HP from http://www.computers4sure.com/ tiger direct had a good selection too and I buy stuff from them all the time with no probs. Be careful of the little guy on the net with the deal that seems too good to be true. I have an old Compaq Armada that won't die so I use it at home on a wifi so we can use it (and abuse it anywhere around the house). I hate my company supplied Toshiba satelite that never is completely working right. The HP seems good. Sony seems troublesome for the guys that have them here. Good luck and congratulations!

Thanks Guys
well here is what I got. I could have got something better if I waited but I wanted to get it ASAP and start getting ready for school. I will have to get more memory ASAP the Hard drive is to small and it's a Celeron but hey It works I don't plan to play games on it or have very many mp3's just school work and some internet use over the cell phone.
Full Specifications:

CPU & Chipset
Intel Celeron® Processor at 2.00 GHz with 400MHz front-side bus
Intel 845GL chipset

Memory
128MB 266MHz DDR SDRAM (1 SoDIMM)

2 SoDIMM sockets, both are user-accessible

Display
14.1 XGA TFT (1024x768 resolution)

Video
Intel® Extreme™Graphics

Sound
SoundBlaster® and Windows® sound compatible

Hard Drive
20 GB Ultra ATA

CD Drive
24x/10x/24x IDE CD-RW

Network Adapter
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

Modem
Integrated 56K Modem

Battery
12-Cell 96 WHr Smart Lithium Ion battery

I/O Ports
Audio jacks: headphones/audio-out, mic-in/audio-in
15-pin monitor connector
S-Video: 7-pin mini-DIN connector
2 USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) 4 pin connectors
RJ-11 connector for modem
RJ-45 connector for network

Slots
Connectors: (1) Type I or Type II card
3.3 and 5 V cards supported
Warm-swap Capable

Power
Approximate operating time: Up to 3.5 hours (depends on usage)
AC Adapter: Input voltage: 100 to 240 VAC
Input current (maximum): 1.5A
Output current: 4.5A max. at 4-second pulse, 3.5A continuous
Output power: 90 W
Dimensions: 1.4-inch x 2.0-inch x 4.52-inch (H x W x D)
Weight: 0.66 lb.

Dimensions
Height: 44.5 mm (1.75 inches)
Width: 329 mm (12.9 inches)
Depth: 275 mm (10.8 inches)
Weight: 7.22 lbs with CD and battery

Operating System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

Security Software
Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day introductory offer

Bundled Software
WordPerfect® Productivity Pack with Quicken New User Edition
6 months AOL free

Hardware Support Services
1 Year Ltd. Warranty + 1 Year Mail-In Service + 1Year Phone Support

How much?
20 gig is too small? I can see you have never had to deal with a 650 meg harddrive with Windows95 using 400 of it!
This will last you a long time if you keep it dry and in a good carrying case.

I have an 80gig now and 10gigs are free. I download shows like Top gear and keep them on my computer for future watching.
With shipping 789
I could have gone to dell and got a
15inch
with a CD rom for 849 and a 100 mail in
but since they don't put floppy drives in I see a CDRW as a must and a Big Must since I don't have a floopy in my desktop.

With back to school I know Office Max will have the cases on sale and Swiss Army (R) brand makes some great stuff

Yeah, a cdrw will handle the must save a copy jobs, while most files just get e-mailed to another location making the floppy unimportant.
I shop at office max and sometimes office depot and have found some amazing deals on laptop cases/ brief cases there.
Tiger direct has some good deals on external hard drives which could be another option for you.
What about online storage of your large files?