Buying a New Laptop

[2Fast]

Have already read this post......

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showth...ue#Post11505646

...but am looking for a little more info. I am going to be using the laptop primarily for poker (3-4 multitabling), cruising the net, some gaming and DVDs. Also would like to have Microsoft Office so that I can download and read work files from time to time (need Word, Excel and PPT).

I've done a bit of research on CNet and other online sites, and priced some lower-end models on TigerDirect, but am unsure if what I'm looking at will really be enough. I was thinking that I could get what I want for $600-750, but that might be reaching a bit and for what I think I need (i.e. 2GB hard drive, Windows Vista, MS Office, decent processor and video card) it might be more like $1000-$1500.

I'm not going to be traveling too much, but would like it to be somewhat portable, and have a screen size of at least 15-16 inches. Here's a couple things I'm looking at:

Gateway MT6451 - $499 - refurbished from TigerDirect. has this refurbished computer on sale AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 1.6GHz, 802.11g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 120GB HDD, Dual Layer DVD RW, 15.4" WXGA, Windows Vista Home Premium

Gateway MX8711 Refurbished Notebook PC - $599 refurbished from Tiger Direct - Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2060 1.60GHz, 802.11g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 100GB HDD, Dual Layer DVD RW, 17" WXGA+, Windows Vista Home Premium

Dell Inspiron 1520/21 - 1 Gig, 15.4" screen, ATI Radeon Xpress card, MS Works (No Word, MS) - baseline model seems to be around $700 (Dells get more and more expensive once you add all the options you really need so prob more like $1K end of day)


Also looking at some Acer's and Toshibas, but from what I've read customer service isn't as good.

Thanks for any thoughts on what I should be looking for.....total noob at this so just wanted to get some more qualified opinions from those of you who've already gone through this.