My tech peeps!

So...being on here means you probably have some tech knowledge or background.
I am looking for a new computer since my lovely one died (plays taps). I thought I'd ask you all a few questions if you don't mind.
1.) I'm looking for a small to medium sized one. Being a collge student, I'm looking for a balance of mobility and memory. I'm thinking 11-13". Has anyone had one? pros/cons?
2.) One I'm looking at currently is a Toshiba satellite. I think it's the a600. Does anyone know the pros/cons of a Toshiba? I've heard they're not too bad, but what do I know
3.) Anyone currently have a laptop they would like to sugguest? I would like to have one with an internal cd player, and hopefully with a sd card reader, but those aren't too important, especially if I get a mini/netbook. I'm wanting to spend under $1,000 but if it's a good one I can save my money a bit longer.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice,
Peace out

Mostly word processing and schoolwork (I need a place to keep all my papers because my flash drive is filling up, but I can also just get another fd if that would save money, so memory is a small factor). I'm not big into gaming or watching videos/movies, but I would like a fast enough computer so that I can listen to pandora while looking up my research paper topic and going to word without forgetting what I'm going to write. Thanks again!

hey Orange. i currently have a dell inspiron-forget the memory and speed, as it is currently at the hospital due to the virus it picked up... but is is up there and works fast.. has the features you mentioned and seems to be a good machine(but didn't come with microsoft office...) anyway it was $600.  i had a satellite (both computer and 1968 pontiac) and it was very reliable. netbooks are not made for word processing, mainly web browsing- id stay away if you need it for college...  i got mine at worst-buy and would avoid them at all costs...customer service is deplorable. just my few cents worth for ya! -Cham

what happened to your dell? my wife got high recommendations from her IT department before we bought... most reliable, etc...  just got an annoying bug that redirects web pages constantly to useless ones. really annoying when searching! we tried several antiviruses and malware as well as registry cleaner and none worked. so now we are having it wiped and reconfigured.  I don't know how comfy a smaller one will be as mine is a 17. that would come by trying one out. good luck.

I...thought the zipper was zipped, and it wasn't...boom! concrete (needless to say I almost cried). Worked ok, then worked only when plugged in, now fully unfunctional
I'm such a klutz. I'm kinda scared to get another one... lol :/

Yeah, that's why I'm scared of Dell; people say they have problems. But my heart kinda belongs to that Toshiba Satellite right now. In my opinion, it sounds too much like what (I think) I'm looking for to be true. I just need to make sure a smaller laptop will be comfortable enough for me. I have tiny hands so do you think that would make a difference in preference?

Welcome back. 

The laptop you linked to seems fine to me. Just as long as it doesn't come with Vista (it'll probably be Windows 7).

except my Acer e-machine froze on me the second day i owned it. right after i was able to transfer all my pics, music, programs, etc. lost everything. then went and got my Dell.  I had another in mind, but when i went to the store and took it for a test drive i felt the dell was more comfortable and liked the way the keys felt. Toshebas are great, but more expensive. how about a Mac!!!?

I'd get the second one. More powerful than the first one, and cheaper.