What is the best PC laptop for "general use" for under $700?

I would look at the Apple website. They have a bunch of refurbished and also some older model still new mac notebooks for great prices. I have also bought used macs before with great luck.

I’ve played with and loved the Eee PC. Neat. (I use a MacBook Pro though, so I couldn’t see myself using it for day-to-day activities.)

@missing bite, thanks for the advice, only looking for PC’s though :(

I have a Dell, and I love it. Although, the only reason I bought this Dell was because they were still offering Windows XP about a year ago. I originally wanted another Toshiba, but alas, only Vista. Toshibas are great, but the cheapest is a little higher than you are looking for (~$750–800). Still, for basic word processing and internet use, Dell is good. I use mine in a lab, as well, and it seems to handle all of the special programs quite well.

I’m a Mac user so I won’t really comment on a specific brand. But I will suggest taking a look at this everyday. I have found tons of great bargains through them. And it looks like you don’t plan on doing anything really demanding. Pretty much any modern laptop will be able to handle what you need. Just make sure you get lots of RAM (at least 2 gigs if using Vista).

My Toshiba is 4 years old and doing great.

If you’re looking for a solid beast I highly recommend Thinkpads. I’ve been using one for the past half year and it’s replaced my desktop in most of my tasks. The one thing is price, it’s hard to find them new for under a thousand, but you can find them on sale sometimes, and if you know anyone who works at IBM you can get the prices cheaper using a friends and family discount.

Thinkpads are tough to beat. You can find used ones for decent price. Craigslist and EBay are decent starting points. Things to look out for are dead pixels on the screen and dead keys. Also be on the lookout for anything that looks like a coffee stain for obvious reasons!

Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba are all good at that price. Personally I like what Asus offers through newegg. Although usually when i am recommending the Asus’ its for a slightly higher budget.

A quick look through newegg turned up this which is discounted $150 and at your price cap.

I suggest comparing what you find on manufacturer’s websites to what you can dig up through newegg’s search.

Also, stay away from Acer.

I have an HP dv6000 Turion-based laptop that I’m satisfied with at the moment. I got it earlier this year and it cost me about $600 w/tax.

The caveats I always tell my friends when they ask about how I like it is 1) make sure the battery’s what you need! The one I have only lasts about 2 hours, so I’ll have to spend another $75 to get one that lasts longer, and 2) the AMD Turion dual core CPU runs hotter than the Intel Pentium’s, so if you get a Turion model, mind your lap! I think the Turion-based models are cheaper, though. Performance in middle-of-the road-usage isn’t that different.

Good luck! There’s a lot of good deals to be had out there!