Help finding a good fast laptop

can anyone help me find a good laptop. i can't afford a mac. I"m in the US and i am going to college. I'm basically looking for speed. thats the most important and i'd love to be able to do more things at a time without slowing it down. i'm not sure what makes a computer fast. is it the processor or ram or what?


i'm trying to keep it in between $500-$700. can anyone please help that knows what they are talking about.

my laptop will be used for:

surfing
school work
maybe a little music download
watching dvd's
downloading some movies
and maybe a little game play.

i am looking for speed and i would like a hi def widescreen. and when i am looking at the laptops and i have no clue what i'm looking at when i look at the processors and ram and harddrive and whatever else

Thanks