Am considering this:

Has to be PC, not Mac.

http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/P770/P775-S7320

Would like to keep it <$900, even less would be better. Will not be used for gaming (visiting grandkids can stuff-it).

Any opinions/experiences greatly appreciated.

Dell's out of the question as, they have done some very bad things with laptops in the past.
(Like pre-loading Vista on a platform that wasn't designed for it.)

Gracias, Muchachos,
Love, Bobby

I haven't comparrison shopped lately so wait for the experts but it seems to be pretty good specs for sub $1000. I like Toshiba laptops, myself. Currently hating the HP one I got assigned at work to replace my old Toshiba.

One observation.
HD is on the slower side but you may not even notice that, depending on your intended usage.

Murph, you forgot to sign your post "Love, Andy".

BTW, I like my Dell XPS very much, and I'm siding with the visiting grandkids.

Oh yeah:

Love, Mark

I'm liking the fact that Bob will see a bunch of responses to his question, but they'll all be BS posts from me!

Be aware that Toshiba loads a TON of crapware on their machines, which tend to be kind of flimsy. Fast machines, but there are those considerations.

Me, buying a PC laptop (which ain't gonna happen), I'd be looking at Thinkpads.

Re. Crapware. First hing I do to any PC I didn't build myself.... Format.

Of course, I can't do that on corporate machines anymore or I get flagged on the LAN as a rogue and the IT cops come and threaten me with nerf guns and silly string or something like that.

Edit:
Oh ya, Love, Andy

Ya, like that's a newsflash.

Thanks for responding Ken, Andrew and not Mark.

It's predominatly going to be used for Bill's sanity management, as he is now spending 2 nights and 3 days a week at his octogenarian parents' house to do their feeble and entirely irrational bidding.

He's already sucked up having dinner be OVER by 4:30 on those nights, but he can't do Wheel and Jeopardy with them any longer, what with all the bludgeoning possiblities presented by his mother's copious chatzke collections.

So he really wants a 17" screen for TV and movies, but will mostly use it for the same stuff everyone else does---avoidance.

P.S. Anyone looking after aged parents, my hat is off and my heart is out to you. My responsibilities ended 4 years ago, so at least I'm not dealing with mine while he's doing the same. That had been our biggest fear by far for years. I guess I'll still call that "lucky."
Well, except for the times I was out of the house with them when their, umm, systems failed. Nice.