My video card on my desktop died, and it is over 6 years old, so I guess its time to get something new.
What laptop would you all recommend? Would you take the plunge and get Vista? I want basic home entertainment - don’t need gaming capabilities or anything that complex. What kinds of features do I want or should I avoid?
Luckily I have everything (itunes, knitting patterns, pictures) on an external harddrive…
well generally, I would go for an Acer or HP. but to fair, your best bet would be to set a budget limit. Then go down to your LCS (local computer store) and take a look in your price range. pretty much any laptop system you get these days is going to have Windows Vista.
I saw the poll post - of course after I had posted this 
[FONT=“Comic Sans MS”]I just got a Dell Inspiron 1501, and love it! We lucked up on a really good price at Sam’s Club - $850, I think.
Not really wild about Vista, but I’m getting used to it…[/FONT]
I just went through the same dilemma. I went with the MacBook Pro. I’m totally loving it. I did have to shell out some $$, but it was worth it for the 17" monitor (they also sell it with small screens). It has been pretty easy to transition over as well. FYI, I had a Dell desktop for years, and I’m an IT specialist, so I work on PCs all the time.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
It really depends upon how much money you have to spend and how you want to use the machine. Unless you have some reason for needing a laptop you’ll get far more bang for your buck by going with another desktop machine.