Billye - one thing to watch for when dealing with salesmen - unless you are a closet computer game player (I used to work in the industry - the term used is "gamers') - you dont need a gigantic hard drive! I find that even with all my photo programs, professional office programs, and extensive music and photo library, I still have plenty of room on my 80 gig hard drive.... RAM is more imortant - although I was running on 512 RAM up until a few years ago - a GIG is now really essential to increase speed, work with photos, etc... many systems routinely come with 2 gigs now even.... also, its costs very little extra for a CD/DVD burner - I would expect that on any decent system.... and of course a wireless connection option..... (also, there are lots of good offers out there right now with rebates! - and you can get some significant savings! Finally, with a laptop - as they are a single unit so more prone to injury if dropped or ???? I always purchase (after learning the hard way) to get "accidental damage" warranty - its completely worth it as normal warranty does not cover accidental damage (you can drop it and they fix it)... Just a few thoughts!