Seriously, I spend $1099 on a MacBook. I know it's $400 over your budget, but you can find some refurbed Macs in the $900 range.
I am a die-hard PC guy, but this MacBook has everything. Remote control, digital audio outputs, DVI outputs. I absolutely love it. This thing is going to last me for years because they have everything in there with the exception of an accelerated video card. I was checking out a Dell Laptop in the $600 range before I settled on my Mac. I ended up spending more because I wanted this piece of hardware to have longevity and for the foreseable future with EFI, digital outputs etc.