Hmmm, well, I'm no expert, but my laptop's served me pretty well for the past few years. It's a Dell. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes--crashes on occasion, takes a while to boot up sometimes--but it runs all the basics, like Office and Firefox (and Sims 2). It cost me about $800. I could've bought a better computer (a.k.a. a Mac) if I'd worked at the movie theatre for longer, but that job was definitely not worth it. For what I use my computer for, it serves me well enough, I guess. What would you mainly be using yours for?

I'm afraid I don't know a lot about laptops since the only one I have ever had is a teeny little pink Eee netbook that fits in my purse. And runs Linux. But I will tell you a few things I thought of.

First, you should find out whether your school has a campus computer store, and start there if possible. If nothing else, check out their website to see what kind of things they sell. They will probably have a few different laptops that are good for student-type use, and will be able to advise you. Also, you can get really awesome deals on software if you are a registered student -- software companies like Microsoft often have student-only licenses that are only a fraction of the cost of a full license, such as for Microsoft Office. So if your laptop doesn't come with Office, that's something to think about too.

You could also download Open Office, which is a totally free and very good substitute for MS Office. Unfortunately it always lags a little behind MS Office in terms of fancy features in Word documents, which means the day may come when someone sends you a Word document that Open Office doesn't know how to open. This happens to me at work on a regular basis. So if you aren't computer-savvy, and you can afford MS Office, it's probably better to go with MS Office. (Though it pains me to say it, as I sit here typing on a computer running Ubuntu Linux, communicating with a Web server running Gentoo Linux... )

Second thing, about Macs. I love my iMac (and I sleep with my iPod Touch under my pillow, I kid you not), and whenever I decide to get a laptop, it will be a MacBook... but Macs are more expensive for the same level of hardware performance. If you are trying to squeeze the last bit of performance out of your money, go with a Windows-based laptop, it will be a couple hundred dollars cheaper.

HOWEVER there is a huge advantage with Macs, and that is that they are practically invulnerable to viruses and the other crap that Windows systems invariably become infected with if you ever go on the Internet, like, ever. This may be an even bigger issue for you, since you will be on a college network with lots of bored wannabe-hacker geeks online, and illegal filesharing going on all around you.

Also, if you're not tech savvy and you're already familiar with Windows, there is a learning curve if you get a Mac. (Heck, even if you ARE tech savvy... it took me some weeks of frustration before I fell in love with my Mac. Just because it's different, for stupid things like "Where is the $&@ button to close this program??")

Otherwise... like I said, I don't know much about laptops, and what little I do know is mostly outdated knowledge. You might just try going into a store that sells a good selection of laptops, and ask the salesperson what's a good laptop for your needs as a college student. They will help you think about questions like battery life, speed, durability, weight, and all those other things. Laptops are something that goes on and off the market in six months, so even if you find someone who bought a laptop a year ago and ask them how they like it, that knowledge won't necessarily transfer to the laptops available today.

Good luck!