Looking for a laptop

[noparlpf]

As this seems to be a common enough thread around here...

So, I'm looking for a portable, relatively cheap laptop. I have a decent laptop already, but the screen doesn't work, so it's basically a desktop; I'm planning to look into upgrading to a more permanent desktop sometime in the next year or so, but that's for later. Right now I just want something portable but functional. My mum's concerned that a netbook wouldn't be functional enough because of the low processing power and small keyboard, but that's still a possibility. So, any suggestions for portable and functional laptops or netbooks?

So far my list of companies I won't buy from is only Asus and Apple. I'm also not interested in Windows 8.

[snoopy13a]

If all you need is word processing, e-mail, internet, and spreadsheets, then any low-end laptop ought to be fine. I'd also recommend staying away from netbooks for the reasons you said. With rebates or holiday deals you could probably get a low-end machine for $300-$400.

[Flickerdart]

There's a bit of a trend in "ultrabooks" - 13 inch machines packing a full sized keyboard (sans numpad) and a pretty beefy set of guts inside a light, portable body. Things like DVD drives usually get left out, but when was the last time you used one?