Need Laptop Advice

I need some advice on getting a laptop. I need one to help facilitate me at my job, but my budget is fairly tight right now. I see some of the ultra-cheap ones that show up in Fry's and such, but I am not sure I would be happy with those even for the short-term. That being said there is no way I can spring several thousand dollars for a top-of-the-line system. I have been looking at the bargin systems from Dell and such and may potentially go there. I could see myself being abe to go into the $600-$1000 range. Although if I find a bargain system that will work for me for 9 months or so, I would go that route as at that time I would plan to get a more robust lap top.

I will really just be doing a lot of writing on the device and I will definately need wireless access. DVD burner and such not really necessary. I am a memory hog, both disk and ram, so the more the better. I won't be running any fancy games on them (getting a laptop with the video card capable of playing the games I want to play would be way out of my range at this point.)

So any suggestions?