http://www.imqq.com Yeah, that's the link you want to use. It's free, and easy to set up.
I installed skype last night. Damn that's a slick program. You can make the first phone call for free, so I phoned Nina's cell phone. I could hear her fine and she could hear me, just like a regular phone call. I'm not sure what the price would be, but I would imagine the calls are dirt cheap compared to regular long distance direct calls.
Ted, don't worry too much about specs. Decide on a price range you want to spend, find a company you can trust to not rip you off by selling you garbage, and that will repair or replace it if there are problems. Then make sure it has a webcam built in. Don't buy the cheapest machine and don't buy the most expensive. Stick to your price range.
I bought my laptop in Future Shop. I set my price at $800 and found the best of the $800 models. It is fast, stable and has a great camera so I can see Nina. They had the laptops on display so you could use them and compare responsiveness. Lift them, use them and open and close the lid. Pay attention to quality. If it looks cheap, flimsy or low quality, go with your gut and skip it. Try the keyboard - you'll be typing a lot. I used my brother's laptop one night and was disgusted with the keyboard. If the salesmen aren't helpful, go somewhere else.
If you're buying online, stick with reputable companies like Dell. I've owned 3 dells and never had problems.
Oh, Mustfocus has a good point about the cpu. Intel is good. Intel and AMD both make low end mobile chips that absolutely stink. Used to be called Celeron from Intel, I'm not sure what they're called now, but skip that. Quad core, dual core are good choices for multitasking, but you get what you pay for.
