i did buy the HP - in excellent shape - from a lovely FT'er who was very fair and threw in some extras. As a student i can get the $79.95 office 2010 (thanks for that link btw) so i am all set.

I really appreciate everyone who posted - I've used windows machines at jobs etc but have never owned anything besides mac so this was uncharted territory. this laptop has win xp which is the system i am familiar with, and i am trained on office up through 2007 so so the learning curve for now will be minimal.

thanks so much everyone.