New/Deal on Laptop Advice

[Chernabog]

Easy question -- My dad is looking to purchase a new laptop and I was wondering which places y'all would recommend for purchasing one. Fry's Electronics is horrible (both in their stuff breaking and in customer service) and though I currently have a desktop Dell XPS, I can't wholeheartedly recommend Dell either these days. Oh wait, what about Circuit City? (ha, ha, ha.)

Basically all he needs it for is for Outlook, to connect to the web via wireless, to watch DVDs, word processing, etc., so a very basic system. I assume all new systems are coming now with Windows Vista, but because he isn't playing any computer games that shouldn't be a problem.

So where should I look for a cheap new laptop? I'm hoping to find one for $600ish -- really it doesn't need bells and whistles, but it shouldn't be slow as molasses either. Thanks for the advice!