What is a good laptop for around a 1000 dollars that I can use for retouch/restoration. I can't afford a Mac. I saw a 3 gb ram Toshiba in Best Buy for around 800 dollars. Are the screens in Toshiba's any good?

Lots of nice notebooks in that price range. The Sony products are very nice.

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcategory/notebooks/ar-series

No matter what you get I would still hook it to a large screen whenever possible, at least 23 inch.

i have macbooks for 1000 and macbook pros for 1500

Thanks to you both. I looked at the Sony's, they are nice. As far as the Macbook Pro, even a refurbished unit is out of my price range. And the screen on the Macbook is too small. Which screen should I get, a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?

I've used Toshiba laptops for years, and always been happy with them. They hold up well, and you can get parts for them if you need it.