Help needed to choose laptop for under $1100

Toshiba Satellite M105-S3084 is well under $1000 at Office Depot with rebate.

I don't know the GPU specs but it's got the a Core Duo 1.6 (T2050?) 2.0GB PC2-4200 DDRD SDRAM, 120GB HD and Dual Layer DVD drive....

I'm looking to buy something reasonable myself now and am curious how the people in the know compare this machine to the ACER http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1683...

For the first time in a long time it seems like there are major changes occurring - Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Duo Quadro, DDR3 memory, N or faster wireless standard etc. and don't want to spend a fortune now on a high end system...

I just visited dell.com and quickly configured this:

Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5600 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
Hard Drive 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Wireless Card Only: Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Processor Branding Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

For $1,128.

Get your arse to Dell.com

Okay, that one had a x1600...

hang on a second...

Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5600 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
Hard Drive 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Wireless Card Only: Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Processor Branding Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

$1420, and then get dell inspiron coupon off ebay and apply it for $400 off?

Thank you so much! You have been most helpful! I was also looking at the acer mentioned before... But I haven't found any $400 coupons on e-bay, only $200 ones, still I found something in my price range.
I thought it was kind of funny reading your post about being scared of Inspirons because they were plastic and all. Thanks! (not meant sarcastically)

I just noticed that thanks is funny-ly spelled word... almost like tanks with a th