I am looking at buying a new laptop. I have had pretty good luck with Dell but I am open to your suggestions. I am also looking an Acer with Centrino proc.
heavy photo editing? Because even with no gaming, if you are going to need to use photo editing apps like Photoshop, you will need atleast 2GB of RAM and a dedicated video card. That's my rule of thumb. I'd also stick with XP for photo editing. That setup might cost you more than 800 dollars, but I'm currently searching for you on Newegg.com.
I'm looking for a C2D at atleast 2.0Ghz, RAM doesn't matter as that can easily be added much cheaper than buying it with a large amount preinstalled--but preferribly ending up with atleast 2GB, and if you are doing any photo editing you definitely want a dedicated gpu.
Brand really doesn't matter. Most of them have a warranty if they suck But I usually look at ASUS and TOSHIBA. Gateway is fine with me personally but they are out of the question as they are too expensive anyways. The laptop I mentioned above would be great for you.
This HP wouldn't be too bad but it's got a large screen which = zero battery life.