It depends what you want to do with the computer, is it primarily used for school, gaming, or just personal entertainment. Ask about the battery life, whether or not it is 64 bit, the processor speed, the amount of ram. Obviously the higher value for each of these is better, if you want to game with the computer, a graphics card with at least 256 m/bits dedicated video memory. Good brands to stick with are HP, Compaq, Asus, Samsung, and Sony. Those usually provide you with the simplest experiences. Hope I helped with your question.