nirvana4all

get the compusa $449 laptop on BF would be my recomendation.

if you look, there are a few $20 1gb ram upgrades on BF.

IMHO, for the average soon to be 8 yr old, this is a good computer for him ,to get if you are getting a new computer.

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Never had a prob w/ staples, it was my BF store #1 last year, at least 5 rebates, no probs.

w/ prices, equal, pick #2.

Compaq is now owned by HP, Alienware is owned by dell, and e-machines is owned by gateway. Shy away out from dell, HP has a very good record, Alienware has been solid, but it is super-high end, and completely configure your own (with a huge mark up like dell). The $449 from OD is decent, add ram to bring it up to 2gb, and it will take care of the average person for a while. It is not for gaming, video editing, or graphic artistry by any stretch, but most people doing that would not have to ask if it is a good enough buy. If you are asking, then this with 2 gb of ram will take care of you. You may find better deals, but this is a pretty decent one.

If you can avoid buying a card (and want real midrange or high end), wait until the 8800 series (GT) or the 2900 series are cheaper.

it is not a 1+1=2, but you dont lose much. dual is the way to go right now.

a RECONDITIONED pc (refurbished, but likely just a return) laptop deal to look at that may keep you from standing in line at BB for 18 hours and still not getting your laptop. http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204853850&adid=17653&dcaid=17653

Not a BF deal, but Compusa has the 8800GT OC PCI-e on sale for about $250 this week.

No, not all athlon x2's are desktop cpu's, any more than all intel chips in laptops are desktop cpu's. The cpu in the DV6439nr is a turion (i.e. laptop cpu, not desktop). One important note about AMD cpu's is that they all have a built in feature that cuts the power use when they are not being run hard. This means that when you are just sitting there listening to music, the cpu isn't doing much, so it's amount of power it uses is dropped to save battery. Agreed the laptop cpu's do it better than desktop models, but both utilize it, so you will not have a MASSIVE power/battery life disparity between laptop and desktop AMD cpu's unless you are going to be a heavy user (gamer, video, etc).

Not a problem, look at it, and keep your horizons open, make sure to look elsewhere as well, but I think this is a good machine ($699 at OD this week I think) to compare others to and the deal to. It is also on one of the BF ads, BB I think, maybe CC. In that ad (please check because I am going from memory), it comes w/ wifi, large monitor and some other upgrade all for a total of like $899 Even if it is a deal posted here, never take just one deal, always look around and compare.

1.5 dual core does not equate to 3.0, but it is alot more than 1.5 It is probably closer to 2.7 ghz or so. I dont know that much about HD playback from downloaded movies, will post if I find out about it for you.

I would say the sony is not what I would want to use as my media station, but if you just want to watch a a movie on it, you should be fine (may want a bigger screen). Your problem is that it does not have an HD drive, or a blu-ray drive. So you cant pop in a HD movie or a Blu-ray movie and play it. does that answer you question?

did not see office depot

acer at CC, 22" for 170.

totally agree, a piece of ram can be dropped in for under $100, you are mostly stick w/ the processor you put in there. Make sure you get a amd athlon x2, turion, or even a core duo for almost all your needs.

What store (CC, BB, OD, Staples, OM?) and what type of area (upscale, ghetto, etc)

Probably, Just look at Circuit city's ad and the m8226x desktop. it is basically an m8200n from HP w/ wifi and monitor, so an x2 6000+ series for $800.

Depends on area, store, year, weather, item you want mostly.

nope, my paper ad says $449 after a rebate at OD, $479 after rebates at CC.

no prob.

If you remember, this is a partial ad that is posted. This is pretty good so far, and not the whole thing yet.

It is online rebate submission. You still have to pay and get rebate $ sent back to you, but instead of mailing it to them and hoping they get it, you just log in, type in the info, and they tell you it is accepted and you can track delivery, etc all right there. Basically non-mail garunteed rebates.