i think when buying a laptop you just need to consider the processor harddisk and the memory that it used. never mind the graphics well i think you can also considered those if you wanted to play games on it but it will not deliver the same graphic scale as of the desktop. Also consider the battery life on it.

First, I consider the desiign. Then, I consider the CPU, RAM, hard disk and various other specs. Price is also very important.

To me its color, HDD & screen R the most impotant

If I were you I would only buy a laptop with these things in order of importance:
1. Intel Core2 Duo Processor
2. Min of 16" screen
3. 4GB of RAM or More
4. Vista Home Premium or Ultimate
5. 320 GB Hard Drive or more (500 GB would be great)
6. 6 Cell Battery minimum
7. Full Number Pad
8. Web Cam.

That is just my opinion.

Derek,
thanks for the highlights, although I'm more of a smaller screens person. Dunno, could wait for Windows 7 to soothe my Vista grudge also

CPU class/speed, graphic card, design, display resolution and the price...you can buy more ram memory and a bigger hard disk later...is easy to replace them..and always cheaper.

I'm faced with 2 different options and I can't seem to find what would be best to run backtrack off of. There's notebooks and there's really dumbed-down notebooks.

i consider on many things like laptop s' screen ,processor speed, ram etc.

When I look for a laptop first thing is, what am I going to use it for.

Since I'm a graphic designer, I like something I can design on with zero issues (I have a Mac Book Pro and a Dell and design on both actually).

When I picked up my Dell, I wanted 6 gb's memory minimum, I hate it when photoshop or after effects or flash lag or become choppy (and if your stuck with vista since you don't have copy of XP you need the memory till Windows 7 is out lol).

Then for me i looked for the best quality screen I could find, which I almost like the Dell's screen more then my Macbook, picked up one with the HD Gloss Screen.

Aside from that, then it just comes down to the core pieces, nice Hard Drive, mine is a 300gb HD, a nice video card, motherboard, etc.

All comes down to what you will be using it for though as well.

I think Screen Size, battery, warranty and service plan are the most important things to check before choosing a laptop.

Well, it depends on the purpose of it. Of course you need to check and inspect everything on it specially the specs. And the warranty should be at least a year in my opinion.

I don't use my laptop for multimedia tasks (it's mainly used for programming and basic design tasks), so performance doesn't make a big difference for me. The thing I REALLY care about is battery life - the longer, the better. It's because I often need to use laptop in car and similar places.

It really depends on what you are going to use with that laptop. I don't play games. So I don't need a very good video card. CPU, HD size and the price are the key factors for me to choose a laptop.

I go with the Size, Specs, screen and brand.

We must go with the best laptop brand.