What is a college laptop for a college student?

[AbrenicaRuss]

I'm heading off to college in a couple of weeks and I've been browsing for laptops that I can use when I'm in college. I'm mainly going to use it for social networking (facebook, twitter, etc.), doing schoolwork like typing up essays & doing research. And downloading songs too. What would be a good laptop for that? I'm leaning towards HP or Dell. And something affordable, between maybe $500-800.

[Marc]

Personally, I love my MacBook Pro, but all of my friends with Dells have experienced several problems! When I had my Dell Inspiron in high school, it crapped out on multiple occasions.

Look into Toshiba or HP.

[Domokun]

hp for sho.. i had a dell and it just was crap.. hp is the best for laptops.

[duBstEp_m1Xer]

Dells are horrid.
HP's are top on the market now. You can get a top notch one for 800, but if you wanna save yourself a couple bucks; go for a 500 one. Same thing; only difference would be storage, memory, screen size, and portability.
Go here and choose.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shoppi...erformance

[Katherine]

I've got a Dell laptop, and I haven't had any problems with it. And my laptop is my lifeline to school since I moved in the middle of last semester (I'm finishing my degree through distance ed). I did my research before I bought it (well, okay, my husband who does computer stuff for the government did the research, and I just paid for it). Because of the research, I knew that there were issues with the webcam, so my husband was able to take care of that when he got my laptop going.I knew that I wasn't going to be doing any gaming on my computer, so I didn't have to worry about getting the best graphics thingy. I think I spent $700 on my computer. I got the best one I could afford in my price range. Check out review sites and consumer reports, and you should be able to get reviews on the computers you are looking at.

[Snow]

HP Pavilion dv6z Select Edition $749.99+
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shoppi...aultAnchor