Help me find my next laptop!

I dunno about $400 notebook deals, but $500 to $600 deals certainly come up every week on at least one of the big computer retailers (compusa, best buy, circuit city, office max and staples). Don't expect much though for this price bracket, unless you are prepared to wait a few weeks for the really good deals.

In the Dell category, look for the B120/B130 series to get you around this pricepoint, which is basically a Celeron 1.5/16.GHz, 256M (or 512M RAM if you are lucky) and 40/60GB HDD. A notebook of such spec will meet your stated requirements.

Noody

Base System, no wireless and only 256 ram.

Inspiron B130 Qty 1
Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 (1.50 GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $659.00
Dell Home Customers: Save $100 off the Dell Inspiron B130!
Limited Time Offer!
- $100.00

Catalog Number: 29
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron B130 Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 (1.50 GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel 15.4in WXGA Display
Memory 256MB DDR2 SDRAM 1 Dimm
Video Card Integrated Intel® Media Accelerator 900 Graphics
Hard Drive 40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
Integrated Modem and NIC Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 4-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (29 WHr)
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition re-installation CD
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

TOTAL559.00

If you can wait that long, get it in July. Then you will go to college with the latest and greatest.

The B130 is a decent system, I'd consider buying one but only if it were widescreen.

b120

There is a deal on this... I wanted to get this for a friend who started taking computer science courses, like basic coding, coding algorithms etc. She would also do basic MS Office, and general Internet use. Would this machine be good enough?

Inspiron B120Intel® Celeron® M 360 (1.40 GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
LCD Panel14.1 inch WXGA LCD Panel
Memory256MB Shared, 1 DIMM
Video CardIntegrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Hard Drive40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
Network AdapterIntegrated Network Card
ModemInternal 56K Modem
Adobe SoftwareAdobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo Drive24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Free! Dell Wireless 1390 802.11 b/g Express Card
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed)No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security SuiteNo Security Subscription
Digital Music SoftwareMusicmatch by Yahoo!™ Music- Entry level with 90 days of On Demand
Primary Battery4-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (29WHr)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr Technical Support
Dial-Up Internet Access6 Months America Online® Internet Access Included
Digital ImagingCorel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos
Enhanced Software for CD/DVD burnerDigitalMedia Plus:Burn,Copy CD Music/Data,Backup,Label(CD-RW/DVD+RW only)
Dell Media ExperienceDell™ Media Experience
Operating System Re-Installation CDPC Restore recovery system by Symantec

$440 (unless there are still working $35 off coupons)