Planning to buy laptop.. need suggestions :)

I got this list of questions below from the FAQ... so I thought I'd use them, in case anyone replies to this thread.

I'm looking into buying a laptop for home and office use..

1_What is your budget?

I have seen some websites offering laptops for less than $1000 so that's my target. But I am aware that this covers just the basic package, so no MS Office and most probably only 1GB ram.. but I'm okay with that. I just need to look at the hardware itself and findout which works best with common softwares like the MS Office.

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Size... a screen size of 14-15, I'm a small person so carrying around a huge laptop would dwarf me and would really be heavy

3_What screen resolution do you want?

I dont know... as long as I can play videos decent, and presentations look great.

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

a portable

5_How much battery life do you need?

doesn't matter

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games.(Low,Medium or High)?

not really... i only know how to play SIMS!

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop?(Photo/Video editing,surfing the web,playing music,watching movies Etc)

Surfing the net mostly, powerpoint presentations, watch videos and play music.. pretty basic.
and ofcourse download stuff from the net

8_How much storage(H.D.D Capacity)do you need?

I was looking into buying atleast 2GB of ram and atleast 160HDD

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the link to them.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

For a very long time

11_If you like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop,post it.

Intel Dual Core is fine (as long as not lower than 2ghz)
Atleast 2GB ram
160 HDD
Express card slot

I also prefer using PowerDVD or Zoom or Windows Media Player..

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons behind those preferences.

I have been very interested in the Toshiba Satellite L300 series and a particular cheap Toshiba Satellite M300
I don't really mind just using Intel Dual Core as long as it doesnt go lower than 2GHz

I am also considering the Compaq Presario and Dell Inspiron....

13_What country do you live in?

Philippines

wow seriously? nice! the reason i was interested in getting a toshiba was because i have read several reviews that the toshiba was more durable than dell. i'll check out your suggestion.

thanks!