your budget is decent.. just remember to leave money aside the your extended warranty, laptop bag, even wireless mouse and other things if u need them. (work at harvey norman, add-ons are our nature) lol nah u definately need the bag and warranty if u want something that should last u ages, look at the toshiba satellite a300/600. with 2.5ghz, 4 gb ram, 640gb hard drive, it's almost as powerful as Brian's car.