Hello everyone it has been a while.
I have decided to retire my old laptop: The Toshiba M35x-S114 Brought on 2005 for $550
General Features:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition pre-installed w/COA
Intel Celeron M 1.3 GHz processor
512 MB RAM (expandable up to 2 GB RAM)
40 GB hard drive Hitachi TravelStar 4200RPM 2MB cache ATA
CDRW/DVD-ROM Drive
No floppy drive
Integrated Intel 855GME graphics
Integrated sound with built-in speakers
Integrated 56K V.92 modem
Integrated 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet controller
15" TFT LCD
Keyboard with TouchPad
Expansion Slots:
One (1) Type II PC Card slot
I/O Ports:
One (1) S-Video port
One (1) 15-pin VGA port
Three (3) USB 2.0 ports (2 on back/1 on side)
One (1) Modem jack
One (1) Ethernet jack
One (10 i.LINK IEEE 1394 FireWire port
Volume control dial
Headphone and Microphone in jacks
The reason I am retiring it: Needs repairs and upgrades:
Keyboard is broken been using a USB external keyboard,
512MB memory is not enough so I would need to buy 2GB of memory.
Battery is original which will hold a 30 min charge out of hibernate, will hold only 25 min if booting up the computer when it is off.
The hard drive is super slow and its driving me crazy so I would need to upgrade/replace it also.
Computer has shutdown/hibernation/turning off issues. The computer would go into a standby mode with an orange flashing light. Pushing power button and holding it does nothing, you have to take out the battery and unplug the machine to get the computer to actually turn off without discharging the battery. If you turn on your laptop and hit the power button to turn off again you get that orange standby light. Also reflashed BIOS did not help.
The total cost of repairing with full upgrade is about $320 without shipping the laptop to Toshiba to find out what is wrong with the turning off issue. which is the price of some of the very low end laptops today. So I might as well invest in a few dollars to get a new one instead.
I have decided to spend a few hundred dollars on a new laptop with a bit more power that will last me more then 5 years (hopefully, everything but battery 3 years hoping
)
The kind of laptop I am looking for1)Intel Processor - Because I am more use to using intel then AMD might get a AMD desktop
2) Battery life - I plan to carry around campus and some places might not have an outlet
3) The outlet/charger has to have ground! I am so tired of plugging in my 2 head charger only to keep hearing pop's at the end and to see like burnt marks near the end.
4) Speed/Power - More speed then power. The computer will be used mainly for 2 of my studies Computer Science and Accounting. I need to be able to compile code with it as well as run number crunching software. Does not need to be the fastest but it has to be at an acceptable limit.
5) Video - Don't really need a powerful video as I plan not to run games on it, The games will be left to my desktops as I find that games on a laptop tend to be more distracting then desktop.
6) Manuf preferences - any manufacture but dell, I have had some bad experience with dell laptops. ( early 2000ish and I have not dare go near one ever since. I'm sure they got better in terms of quality, but its just a preference though)
Where to start? 
Not looking for a specific laptop/model rather what kind of system specifications should I be looking forWhat CPU should I get?
The first hard choice is picking a CPU the people I have talked with in class and with some friends recommends the new i3, i5, i7 cpu's if you can afford them. I do have the budget for the i3, and i5's the( i7 seems out of my budget), but they do seem very excessive for my needs especially since they are new and the price on them is still a bit high.
My friends have said go with a Core2duo, do not get a Pentium, Celeron or any low end CPU. Also do not get a Dual Core CPU as Core2Duo provides better performance then the Pentium dual core CPU. There are so many models and version numbers and looking at intel charts all day is giving me a headache
My next question is:
How much memory should I have?Most comes with 3 GB of memory which seems small, so that means I would need to invest money into getting into 4 GB? Anyone know how long before 4 GB of memory will become obsolete?
Should I invest with a laptop that has DDR3 memory instead of DDR2?
Im not concern with hard drive space as I don't plan to really need anything that requires heavy storage, files will be backed up to my home server.
Video card- not to crazy about it, looking at CPU specs is tiring enough but to look at video card specs after the CPU, I think my head will explode.
Normally I wouldn't mind doing research before buying a PC, but with all these different models, makes and kinds I am at a complete information overload
The reason I am asking besides complete information overload is because of another reason. I have the worst luck in terms of timing when buying a new PC. When my first PC was brought 64 MB was the standard and I went with a Celeron 500mhz, 2 months later 128MB became the standard and they had the Pentium III out!
The second time I got a laptop The one above retiring. 256 MB was the standard, a few months later 512MB was the standard and some models were cheaper and better then the one I brought. I am tired of always having things brought at a bad time with stuff getting outdated and new stuff are out so qucikly because of timing when buying things. Even with hardware. I buy it one week next week they have a sale on the item
This has happen when I got memory/Hard drives. All 4 times it happened. Buy it at a decent price, next week they have a sale on the item!
I don't want to be the one who gets something high end only to find out just 2 months from whenever I buy it somethings come out with new balls and whistles , So I am trying to plan my purchase in a specific time.. I will wait if I have to anyting to get past the <2 months outdated already trend. Ex, if I were to buy a better laptop today will the laptop be much cheaper then it was 2 months ago? I understand things get cheaper the older they get but nothing that is major cheap over that short amount of time.
Some other Questions I have:
a) Should I wait until laptops have USB 3.0 out? I seen some on desktop so I am concern if I buy something with USB 2.0 then new laptops(cost efficient ones) will come out with USB 3.0
b) Should I just invest in the upper end laptop and hope for the best?
c)When is it a good time to buy? (When sales occur/ when are they least likely to release something new allready)
d)What should I look out for (avoid, besides extended warranty, certain CPU, computer manufacturer. )
e)Should I wait a bit longer to see what comes out and hope certain laptops get cheaper?
f) Should I also invest in an extra battery? (if so how much will that cost)
Some important info:
My Budget 
Yes I am looking for a lot of things and I have a lot of questions but how much am I willing to spend.
Peripherals - You can never have to many USB's I always seem to use alot of USB devices and VGA slot so I can hook up my laptop to a projector for presentations
I originally budgeted $600 for my laptop, but I decided I will spend some extra up
to $900 with taxes included only because I want something to be able to keep up decently with something 5 years from now. Right now it seems like a bad time to buy because laptops seem very expensive, maybe wait around until Christmas or back to school events? Anyone know the time of season when they are on sale or a good time to grab one?
P.S. Sorry for the long read, my post always ends up long as I always feel that I have to explain everything. If anyone have any recommendation on system specifications or where to start I would appreciate it!
For people who just wants the summary:What CPU should I get/avoid?
How much memory should I have if I was to buy it today? (DDR2 or DDR3)
Need A laptop that can compile and run simple code and run accounting software
