Which laptop for $1k?

[HiTempguy1]

I'm trying to help my sister with the purchase of a laptop, but I'm a bit lost. I've really dropped out of keeping up with the ridiculous amount of new PC hardware that is pumped out every year; if I need to spec a computer to play video games, thats easy enough. But she doesn't need that.

The laptop needs to be good at EVERYTHING besides games, as she doesn't play any. Mainly for word processing and web browsing, along with the occasional movie. SSD harddrives would be super cool. Basically, long battery life and relatively future proof for 3 years. Do AMD mobile processors use less watts than their equivalent intel cpus like in yesteryears?

Durability would be good, but she isn't that hard on her laptop, so lightweight would be good. A 15.1" screen will be fine (no smaller anyways).

[cjay^]

Based on her needs, she wouldn't even need to spend more than $500.

AMD: http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?webid=884385&CatIds=&AffixedCode=&=&=&=

Intel: http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?webid=884386

The Intel one would be a little bit faster, and I would guess that battery life would be very similar between the two. About 3 hours of web browsing/word processing.

If she wants to spend more money, she could get the Asus UL30A-X5. The main difference is a slightly slower processor, although the Asus has the same amount of memory and hard drive space, is much thinner and lighter, and is said to last 10+ hours on battery alone. Keep in mind though that the Asus does not have an internal optical drive. This makes the laptop that much more compact. USB DVD-RW drives are $50 or so.

http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-UL30A-X5-Light-13-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B002P3KMVC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283041088&sr=8-2