I have had wonderful results with Toshiba. My Dell is a delight except they never put in long lasting batteries! grrrrrr

With the influx of tablets, you should be able to get a good notebook for under $600, or a bit more if it comes with lifetime virus (McAfee, Norton) and software. It's easy to compare online...don't forget to check QVC and HSN (.com s but also on cable). They often have flex pay, not layaway (get the item now!) and a good return policy if things don't work out.

Notebooks today should have at least 5 GB of RAM and up to a terrabyte! of storage on harddrive. (Imagine that!) (My tablet which only cost me $100 has 8 GB ram and is expandable.)

Most new notebooks no longer have DVD burners...so look for one that does have that as I think it's still useful... make sure it comes with all the cables and adapters, car chargers or whatnot that you may want... but by comparing at the actual websites of Toshiba, Dell etc you can have several lined up side by side and choose.