13" laptop: thinkpad edge or HP dm3z?

Any advice on a 13" Win7 laptop w/out optical drive in $600 range for light use at home (less than 1 hr per day on average)? Doubt I will travel with it or drag it to coffee shops. Nothing more graphics/processor intensive than netflix streaming or itunes. Basically looking for a netbook for large hands (12" and under doesn't work for me).

No, I don't want a 13" macbook or macbook pro..... so don't waste your time.

Looking at Lenovo Thinkpad Edge (AMD Athlon Neo X2 Dual-Core L325 1.50GHz 1MB, 3 G RAM, $629) and HP Pavilion dm3z (AMD Athlon Neo X2 Dual-Core Processor L335 1.6GHz, 4 G RAM, 1130us quick ship model, $566 w/employee purchase plan). Both have bluetooth, HDMI output, 320G HD, 6 cell battery, etc.

The Thinkpad has a larger touchpad but ctrl and del keys are not in the corners (annoying with big hands). HP has a smaller touchpad but ctrl and del keys are in opposite corners. HP has a smooth bottom but Lenovo has a hump on the bottom (like a papertowel roll) with 6 cell battery. Otherwise they're very similar.

I'm worred about HP from a reliability standpoint. Are the complaints about HP justified? Or do more people complain about HP because they sell more laptops? I've tried the HP hands-on in a store and it's nice enough. The new thinkpad model isn't in stores, online only (but based on past experience with work laplop I know the keyboards are good).

(Laptop forums aren't too helpful since people only want to talk about what they already have.)

Which would you choose? If I get 3 good years out it, I'll be happy. Would rather not purchase an extended warranty, Amex will double the 1 yr warranty.

The bulky/heavy 6 cell battery on the thinkpad worries me, I think I may go with the low end model w/4 cell battery, no bluetooth, and 2 G RAM. ($579 plus 5% off with coupon)

Will 2 G RAM be tolerable on win7 for running 1 or 2 apps at a time? (I know I can easily add more later if needed.)

Is there much use for bluetooth other than phone pairing? I have a USB cable for current phone and laptop.

Thanks. Just ordered the entry level Thinkpad Edge, will let you know how it goes. I'll have to get an external optical drive at some point (appx $50), but no hurry.

I was at a friend's house last night and played with his new 13" toshiba with similar specs, hated the keyboard and mousepad. That helped seal the deal.

I thought about the ideapad U350 but prices went up recently and it's only available with an 8 cell battery right now -- which I don't need for basic home use (plugged in most of the time). The pics on the lenovo website show the smallest battery, then you look at reviews elsewhere and it's a huge battery. One thing I've always wondered..... does a laptop battery wear out if you're plugged in most of the time? I'm assuming it does since the power is channeled through the battery at all times (allowing you to disconnect and reconnect power any time).

I've had the laptop a few days, good so far. Love the clean industrial design. Keyboard is not quite as good as an old thinkpad I had for work a few years ago, but it may just be the sound of the keys I'm missing from the older thinkpad.

It's a bit of an adjustment from a 15" 4:3 to a 13" widescreen. The lower group of right and left click mousepad buttons are sitting right at the edge (hard to rest your palm on the edge and use those buttons). But I will adapt.....

What's the current thinking on anti-virus and spyware programs for Win 7? I'd rather not bother. The spyware program on my old Win XP laptop was pretty helpful in speeding things up, but the McAfee program never found anything (or if it did it never told me). 95% of my web use is "respectable" and I know not to click on weird things and install stuff liberally. Should I bother with either?