I've been using a $400 Toshiba for my junior and senior year, and it has been able to do everything I've wanted to do with plenty of speed. Laptops now a days are so advanced that even the low end models will be more than the average user ever needs. Unless you're looking for a gaming computer or something for graphic design or whatever, I wouldn't spend more than $600, and would recommend something even cheaper. Those saying to buy something that lasts, no. The computer my Toshiba replaced? An $800 Sony Vaio I purchased 4 years prior to the Toshiba. The $400 Toshiba blows the Sony out of the water, twice the computer the Vaio was. My Vaio was still working great, but I couldn't pass up such a big upgrade for only $400. Getting a $400 computer every 4 years is a better move than getting an $800 computer every 8 years. That $800 computer will be nearly obsolete in the last two years anyway. *Oh, and in case you didn't know already, never buy the extended warranty.