looking at purchasing a laptop

Not sure if this belongs here or not. But i'am sure i will here if it doesn't. I will be purchasing a laptop for my daughter for college use. I'am not sure about purchasing HP computers or other brands from big box stores. My question is, are Hp laptop any good and should i shop at a big box store -eg. Best buy, Circuit city and so on. She will need xp pro and microsoft office, auto cad and at least 512mb ram so i was wondering about what type and size of the processor i should be looking at.your responses would be informative.

 

well i just got a laptop for my bro, and i ordered a dell, for the money they are to me the best deals we spent 2000 out the door it came with intel dual core (really good to have with auto cad) 1 gig ram (667mhz), a dvd-rw, 17" monitor 7200rpm 60gig hard drive, microsoft office business edition, xp pro, 256mb ati radeon, 80 WHr battery, and a intel pro wireless card to me that snot a bad deal for all that you get. and a 2 year guarantee, i got it though dells website, its the inspiron 9400.

 

Sounds like a good one. After research at Best buy it looks as if most of the stuff they sell are lower end computer products thats why am asking about this from people who know more than I. The last desktop I purchased was direct from Gateway. All responses good and bad are appreciated.

 

i would never buy a laptop from best buy maybe a cheap tower, something for my parents or something but never a laptop, not only are they cheap end but they also rip you off.

 

thats kind of what i thought.

 

Come on people, only one person has a response. Surely more user have a opinion on this matter. Please post.