For those looking for a cheap and reliable latop the Asus Eee PC is now avaliable at Officeworks and Harvey Norman in Gippsland
I was able to pick one up for $480.00, it's great for meetings and takeing to classes, kinda like the Wii of computers.

for $480.00 you get a  0.92kg laptop the size of a book (and smaller then the average textbook)
7" Widescreen Monitor
b/g Wireless Networking
Intel 900mhz CPU
4G Solid State Hard Drive
500mb DDR2 Ram
3x USB2 Ports
SD/MMC Multi Card Reader
Webcam + Mic
2-3hr Battery Life
Linux operating system with easy to use menus, full MSOffice Compatable Office Suit, Games and Educational Tooks (Can be replaced with WinXP)

*Warning****
Unfortunatly at this time Gippsland uses a Cisco VPN which at this point doesn't work with the Eee PC
However it's likely that this will be changeing in the next few months.