...functions / wireless uses. Will do light crunching / gaming / surfing.?

I would have to say that you should go with an HP. Never get a dell, yeah they are cheap and they will do good for about a year or so but then they will be worthless. I see it happen to people up here at college all the time while the people who got a hp notebook are fine.
I have an amazing HP right now.

I don't know if Gateway makes laptops, but they make good desktops. You might try getting a Gateway if you can find a laptop made by that company.

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