Well if only need it for inet and chat and stuff that requires low specs... I'd probably go with the laptop i have.
Dell Inspiron 1501
Though i should mention they have changed the specs of the 1501 since i got mine, but i'll tell you what mine has.
Windows XP Home
AMD Sempron 3500+ 1.79 ghz
512 meg ram
ATI Radeon Xpress 1150
60 gig HD
15.4 in. screen...
DVD Burner (Not sure on the speed)
Some crappy software that i got rid of anyways xD
But yeah, i got mine... last january, and it works alright for what i need. Programming, gaming, music,chatting. And mine cost me $900 CAD, WITH the 3 year extended warranty and tax included.
The laptop by itself though (no tax) was .. err roughly $450 CAD
But, i think in the last dell flyer i saw, the same laptop, with a bit better specs for roughly the same price, maybe a bit higher, i think it had
1 gig of ram,
AMD Turion 64...
Mhh. I cant really remember, i only glanced at it.
Anyways, yeah. Hope that helps you.
Good companies (best) Fujtsu-siemens s-line, Panasonic, maybe some Lenovo’s
Price of new one can be.... well, it's business thing, but it's worth it or you can buy used one in great condition for reasonably cash. From my point of view laptops are from definition a mobile device, so let it be like this, so we are restricted to 9-13” screen and 0,7-2,0 kg of weight. But there’s much more to deal with. You have to answer to yourself for a couple of questions like:
1. will you use cd/dvd very often ?
2. will you need long or very long life time battery?
3. new / used
4. do you appreciate design ( is it very important to you)
I’m totally radical about those things so my type is something like Fujitsu Siemens U9200 T5250 but there’s much more possibilities in used stuff. Personally I would encourage you to hit for used in that budget.
)