Inexpensive Laptop for my son

[Munkay]

Every single "picture" you see on your LCD notebook screen is a buick. Can't have one or the other, you have packages of both sizes. Prefer one truck or two?

One truck seems to be doing me just fine right now.

My friend bought a mid ranged laptop 4 years ago (roughly 1700$), and is a visual arts design major. He is a senior now and can still run everything he needs without a problem. If a 4 year old laptop can suffice for intensive graphical programs, then for this list of programs:

On his current computer, a desktop, he uses Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, Sygate, and AntiVir all of which is free. His Zen Micro software. That's it. Software is not an issue.

I hardly see this dire need for a great graphics card. As Alram said, his son is sophomore. He's going to need it for 2 years. Now before you go selling me(or anyone else) 2 trucks for a job that obviously only needs one to do those tasks, think for a minute.

Cheers,

Munk