Trying to find a relatively cheap laptop.

Well I've finally saved enough up to get a replacement laptop.
Old one hasn't even had a functional battery for nearly 3 years now.

This will just be a portable computer for me, it won't need to game or anything. Price and reliability are more the point here. It will more than likely be expected to play a lot of hd video though. So must have HDMI (though most do these days)

For some idea what kind of stuff I'm looking at, here's what I just finished looking at before posting here.
Newegg.com - DELL Vostro 469-1144 Notebook Intel Core i3 370M(2.40GHz) 15.6" Wide XGA 3GB Memory DDR3 1333 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW Intel HD Graphics

Price is not fixed, I'd like to stay at 500 US or less though.

Do you have any preferences for screen size/keyboard layout? I ask because this is important to some, and does not matter to others.

I would like the keyboard to be near normal size, so I guess 15inches or so.
If you saw what I was trying to replace you'd understand why I wasn't being too picky.

Kind of pushing my price bracket there.... that's kind of the problem here. I spent so much building this computer at the start of the year I really just can't afford a beefy laptop right now.

Magus, in that case, you should definitely wait another month. With the release of the Ivy Bridge, the current lappys will definitely drop in price. You should be able to get a great deal on a decent lappy at that point. I would hate to see you settle for now, only to kick yourself in a month when you see the new prices.

well my only real wants are intel i series (3,5) that is doubt anything in the 7 is going to fall into my range even after a market shift.
I've actually considered barebone as possible with an ssd.
It won't need to hold a lot of data locally and I could manage with a 64gig in it I think.
I was also considering acer. I'm not an enormous fan of dell or hp to be perfectly honest. My old laptop is an HP and even though I have to say it's remained functional through some abuse.
Most of that abuse only came after the battery died in less than 3 months and I stopped caring though.

I'm not in a huge rush, but I will need to replace this thing in the next couple of months.

I have an HP/Compaq Lappy, and tbh, it's been great, except the battery has taken a crap twice in two years. The battery time isn't bad on mine. It's an i3, battery lasts about 4 hours when new. After about 6 months, battery time falls to about half that. I am dead set against Dell. I have had horrible experiences with them and will never own anything they manufacture again. I agree with your decision on the i3/i5, especially if you are going to be watching some HD content. Acer has actually gotten a little better. I prefer ASUS laptops, at work, all of our lappys are ASUS. I just ordered a Zenbook for myself to use at work.

Since you said you can wait a bit, I would hold out until you absolutely couldn't anymore. The prices will make you happy.

I bought an HP pro-book for the clubs treasurer to replace an aging d-820. She likes it alot.
i-3, w7, 4 gigs, 15" 320-7200 - it was just over 500$ though.

Ever company I have ever worked for has used Dell laptops and desktops and my experience with Dell is great. I've personally carried a Dell Latitude laptop for 10+ years and it's been very solid.