I have had an Asus laptop for two years now and I have liked it ever since I turned it on for the first time. Because of that I'd recommend an Asus laptop
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Is there a specific reason he wants a laptop? The 17" inch screen would reduce the portability a bit, which I find one of the key ideas of a laptop. Regardless of that, many of the specifications you mentioned I believe are quite standard these days, such as the amount of memory, processor and hard drive. This means it shouldn't be a problem to find one for the price you've indicated. For more information on a specific brand I'd simply make a visit to the nearest computer store, who probably have a far better knowledge of what laptops are available at the moment than I do.
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