Unfortunately, if you haven't bought by now, stores are likely sold out. This is a very good deal - and usually BB has maybe 5-10 of these in each store max. They are "doorbusters" to stimulate traffic - they lose money on these guys and the savvy buyers are there the moment the store opens to snatch 'em up and sell them for $599 on eBay.

Just in case you can find one, this looks like a great machine to me. Let's analyze:

Notebook Computer with 15.4-in. Ultrabright Widescreen. --A great widescreen size. Resolution is 1440x900 - very nice at this size. The Ultrabright technology should ensure a bright screen.

Intel Pentium dual core T2310 processor. --The 1.46 GHz speed of this processor might be a little slow for graphics-intensive applications, but for e-mail, Word, PowerPoint and such, you'll never notice it. Compared to a 3-year-old notebook it will seem blazingly fast.

1GB DDR2 memory. --This is the weak spot of the machine in my opinion. I always recommend 2 GB of memory with Windows Vista. Again, however, for e-mail, Word, PowerPoint, and the web, 1 GB will be quite adequate and this machine will seem much faster and more responsive than the 3-year-old one it's replacing. You can always add 1 GB of RAM later for about $50.

120GB hard drive. --Better than the 80GB hard drives of competitors.

Dual layer DVD +-RW LabelFlash drive. --I believe this is similar to LightScribe, meaning that with special CDs and DVDs, you can burn a label directly into the media without having to print a separate lable.

802.11g Wireless LAN. --Settle for nothing less.

Windows Vista Home Premium. Better than Home Basic, and quite adequate for your daughter's needs.

I tend to think Gateway's quality is a bit better than Toshiba or HP at this price point - that's subjective in my mind only.

My verdict: A good buy at $399.