I will be buying my granddaughter a lap top in a couple months.. She lives in the boondocks and would need an air card.. I'm an old timer and not sure about the technology or what she would need.. I hate a compaq, I had 2 and hated them.. I think a gateway, but walmart had a laptop for under $300 and some go to $2000 or so.. what is the difference.. speed and memory I guess are the important things.. and how does an air card work? She will be in college next fall and sure we will be using her laptop.. would she need a printer? They have a desktop at home but its still "good old dialup" yuk, because dsl isn't in their area yet.. what should I be looking for here.. I know she likes dvd's and she is into art and music..

The difference as you move up the cost ladder is 5 things. Processor, RAM, Storage, screen size and video adaptor.

Your $300 Walmart special is probably a single core or low end dual core processor with 1 Gig of RAM and a hard drive of 160G or smaller. Its probably a 14" screen with a low end video adapter.

Your $2000 machine is probably a Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4 Gig of RAM, 500G hard drive, 17" screen and high emd video adapter. It will probably come with a long life battery and a Blu-Ray DVD drive.

What I think you are referring to as an air-card is referred to as mobile broadband. It uses a cell phone network to transmit data. It works on a subscription basis ao there is a monthly charge, generally $40 or more.

I would be looking for a dual core processor (Turion X2 or Core 2 Duo), with 4Mg or Ram and at least a 250G HD. You should be able to find something with those specs for between $600-$800. I would recommend an HP or Toshiba.