Need a Review!!!

Okay. So, hubby needs a laptop for his promotion he's going to be getting soon. Here's the thing... he knows NOTHING about computers. NOTHING. Seriously, it's bad. But he has to work on one... so I'm starting to teach him and we're looking and comparing. I've been offline so I've not paid attention or been able to research laptops or what is great and good pricing, ect. We're wanting to go basic but it needs some office software on it for his work. I want to figure out how to use it and what he likes before we invest money into one (well, a good one). So, I need your help.

What do I need on a basic laptop?
What is pure BS?
What's the best models?
What's the difference between this and a 'notebook'?
ECT.

Keep adding info. I don't even know all the questions I need answered yet. Review for me please!