I can't freakin believe I'm even considering this...

I'm looking for a laptop to run Windows Vista Home Premium (eventually upgraded to Windows 7), in the $400-$600 range, with a reasonable sized LCD (15" is fine). The laptop must be able to run Windows 7, with the full "Aero theme" or whatever they call it.

Netbooks are not an option - screens are too small, and they mostly run XP. I've looked at quite a few laptops that were relatively light-weight and compact. But I've also seen a few in that price range that were 17" screens and nicely equipped (media drive, including LightScribe, 3GB RAM, etc.).

Obviously I'm a Mac guy, I haven't used a Windows PC in years (for any amount of time anyway), so I've kind of lost touch with which brands are best (I refuse to pay Sony Vaio prices!).

Any 1st-hand knowledge/advice would be welcome.

PS: NO, I'm not switching - just need it for some specific ongoing work - thus the low investment price I'm willing to put into it.

By the way, I'll say now that I'm also considering just buying Windows 7 when it's released and running it via Parallels - but it's not the optimal solution for me at this time.

I'm sure you've already considered this, but what about Boot Camp?

Assuming you already have a mac laptop? -- Why buy a whole new machine if you may already have the iron?

=)

That's what I was going to suggest, Boot Camp.

Yeah, I've considered that too. But at this point, a copy of Windows 7 Professional costs $300, Parallels/Fusion costs around $80 - it just seems to me that getting an entire laptop with Vista Home Premium and a free upgrade to Windows 7 is a smarter buy in the long run. (especially considering it'll be a tax write-off).

But then again, I'm not sure. Perhaps BootCamp might be a decent option. I don't want to run in "emulation" speeds, I want full speed.

Well, if you can get over the cheap-o "Fisher Price my First Computer" feel of it, Acer seems like a pretty good bet. I recently read this article about how they've been outpacing Dell in laptop sales. In my experience, that makes it easier to find drivers and stuff later on down the road when you decide to put Linux or whatever on it.

Just remember to look into how easy it'll be to upgrade RAM and stuff before you get it.

If you're going the boot camp route, then an alternative is to buy an OEM copy of windows from Newegg, it's generally 1/2 the price of the full blown retail version. You can't move it to another machine, however.

Other than that, Asus makes great machines, so does Acer. They're generally not stuffed with all of the useless crap you'd find on a Dell or HP either.

You can't move it to another machine, however.

Are you saying that when it gets registered it gets locked to that machine?

Yep. Just like when you buy a Dell, or HP, or whatever you can't put that copy of windows on another machine.

Well, you *can* if you know how, just not legally.

I used a dedicated Windows machine for years to test my sites in IE. But when I got the MBP I went with Boot Camp. I even use it to run my company's CNC machine software and it works flawlessly. Heck we've even started using iMacs with Parallels to run on our digital finishing systems for the sign industry. Running Windows on my Mac actually makes it feel a little snappier. I would save the extra $300 or so and just go with Boot Camp.