This is completely unrelated to basketball (We have a few days off here, so I figured it might be a good time), so I apologize if anyone came here expecting the read another crappy piece from Mplax about the Wolves. I figured I would ask this here though because a) it's an online blog so I assume there are at least a few people who know something about something and b) because it never ceases to amaze me with how much of a wealth of knowledge there is here. Now that I've stroked the collective ego of Canis Hoopus:

I'll try to keep this short, but I am looking to buy a new laptop and the options are vast. Hopefully there are also others who are currently looking or planning on looking soon and this will benefit them as well. But I need help (We're Wolves fans, don't we all?) from people who know more than me [about computers]. Preferably, a lot of people who know more and who can put all of their brains together to find me the perfect laptop! Thanks in advance! Now if you could find me a job in finance and/or accounting, that'd be stellar as well...

Anyways, a couple questions first:

• I've been primarily looking at Dell and Toshiba customizable laptops and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas when they usually offer their best deals (I see they offer different specs for free on a weekly basis)? Right now Toshiba is offering a free backlit keyboard (I don't need to look when I type... that would just be a waste) so I'm at least waiting until the 25th (which is when they offer their next deal, I think).
• Any brands you love or hate (and a quick reason, if you will)?
• 802.11n and 802.11g (I hope I got those numbers right). Would I even notice a difference if I don't have top of the line internet? And what's the deal with this 10/100/1000 connection?
• What's the [noticeable] difference between the 4, 6, and 8GB DDR3s?
• Hard drive speeds (I have a 100GB memory right now so I don't think I'm worried about the hard drive size. I just don't know the difference between all the different RPMs)?
• Does the graphics card make a difference for video streaming (I realize the Wolves games will never look great...)?
• Unrelated, but what virus protection software do you prefer? Norton was so-so, IMO, and Kaspersky is obnoxious (constant useless warnings and updates (which might not be an awful thing...)).

Primary uses:

• Watching Wolves games online (Hah! Even made it Wolves related!).
• Watching TV shows and movies online (HDMI output is 100% necessary as I plan to watch this stuff on a TV rather than a laptop).
• Internet surfing (maybe I'll even play a game a couple times a year)
• Word and Excel (Probably need an i7 for that strenuous work, huh?)
• I don't think there's going to be anything that would take more work than watching streams or maybe playing a game... let me know if I missed something obvious though

Preferences:

• HDMI, as mentioned, is 100% necessary
• I'd prefer the i5 with the Turbo Boost (though maybe not worth the extra cash for the rare occasion I would use it?)
• Battery life isn't very important to me as I mostly have it plugged in or near a plug anyways
• Screen size isn't a huge deal, I guess I'd prefer anywhere from 14ish-16ish though...

I think that's it. Please let me know if there's something else that's important to my decision that I should know about. Thanks again for the help!