My laptop is on its last dying breaths right now and it seems that I need a new laptop asap. Something under $500, 14" max screen size and should be able to run Adobe Illustrator decently. I would prefer to buy new/refurb so I could get the warranty.

I've been looking at the lenovo outlet site and slickdeals. But is there anywhere else to look or does anyone have any suggestions?

save up a little and buy todd's laptop

I would if it wasnt too large to carry around

ah if small is desireable, get a toshiba nb205 and upgrade the drive and memory. I love mine. 9 hr battery and a great keyboard

If you're interested in netbooks, there are plenty of cheap options around. Go to your nearest electronic store and try the different keyboards, that's what makes or breaks the deal IMO because the specs are all pretty similar.

Otherwise, I'd get a second-hand MacBook, it's by far the best laptop I've used.

I'm actually trying to stay away from netbooks since the screen size is too small for me to use illustrator well.

I wouldnt mind a macbook but I'm not a big fan of used laptops.

Ok, I'll go out on a limb and say there are no good notebooks with decent screens that are worth a damn under $500.

I came to the same conclusion

You should be able to get the Toshiba netbook plus upgraded memory and HD and a 19 - 22" external monitor for around $600 if you look closely. The wife uses a 21" viewsonic with her netbook and she loves it.

Dell Latitude D610 Notebook, Pentium M 1.86 MHz, 1024MB, 40GB, 14.1'' Crystal Clear XGA Screen, DVD / CDRW Combo Drive, Windows XP PRO, Factory Refurbished - D6101.8Ghz - Buy.com ?

Actually, I'd probably go HP, myself. They seem to offer the best bang for the buck.

the 14" or less is the part that makes it a bit tough. how about this deal? Lenovo U330 Laptop - $549 after e-coupon - SlickDeals.net Forums

There's a cheap acer on sellout.woot.com today.

so it turns out that my parents are willing to pay for the difference for me to get something with OSX as long as I help them out with work (which I already do). I'll probably get a lenovo t400 configured for OSX unless someone has a better idea

Why would you get a T400 instead of a macbook?

Yep, if they are going to pay the difference why not a 13" MBP?

Yup, running OS X on non-Apple hardware seems like a mess when you want to update your software.

Some of the hackintosh laptops are so compliant that they can update. Like the Dell mini 9, or so I read.

But the dell mini9 doesn't have a comparable mac, and can't run snow leopard easily.

There isn't a compelling reason (to my mind) to get a thinkpad instead of a macbook to run osx.

The macbook I would need would be $1500 since I need the extra ram and the larger hard drive. A similar spec-ed T400 would be $800-900. I felt that was a good reason on its own

extra ram and a larger hard drive are both cheap and simple to install. Don't pay apple's upgrade charges. Get a refurb minimal config macbook, then upgrade it yourself with commodity parts.

Hmm, that makes sense.

Also, if I choose to get a macbook pro, is it worth it to get the applecare warranty?

EDIT: My laptop should have broke a month sooner, I could have gotten the itouch for free

wait to decide on applecare, and if you get it, get it from ebay instead of from apple, you can save a ton.

Oh cool, didnt know you could do it like that

At a minimum buy applecare through a education store. I had my brother in law-do it for me, saved a decent chunk off retail.

So it seems that I can at least get some free apps installed since we're buying it from the same store/guy who we've bought the last 4 macs from, anyone have any recommendations on any apps that I should get? (I'm already getting the Adobe package)