can anyone suggest a cheap but fast laptop i could buy in order to use. Im thinking of taking my laptop to asia with me.

If your only criteria are price and speed, then get a desktop instead

What do you want to do with that laptop?
Define "cheap" and define "fast".

well i need a laptop to take to uni!

My only suggestions would be.

1. make sure you have at least 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
2. get a dual core CPU, AMD or INTEL... doesn't matter, you choose.
3. If you love games, and prefer to have some games on your lappy, make sure that the GPU is dedicated not shared. Don't expect to game with the highest settings though, but it will help.

That's it, there are a lot of brands and models to choose from. Browse your local online stores and make a comparison list in Excel or something similar, and compare the specs vs the price.

Last step would be to post here and ask if it's a good decision

Check www.ibuypower.com they have decent laptops. Unless you are really strapped for cash, do not get a laptop with a Celeron or Semperon processor. Get either a Core Duo (good), Core 2 Duo (best!), or an AMD Turion (good). If you plan on gaming make sure (like Daninku mentioned) to get one with a dedicated gpu, not integrated.

With the travel you mention . I would go with the lager companies that have good worldwide coverage warranty/service etc. Dell,HP etc.There prices are hard to beat.

I would recommend HP. I have the DV6000t and I love it. It has a Core Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, 100GB HDD and a GeForce Go 7400 256MB graphics card. And the price can't be beat. It's just around $1000! Check it out here.