Help picking a new laptop

[2smart]

I'm looking to pick out a new laptop. I need a desktop replacement that's good for gaming with a budget of around $1200. I've had bad experiences with HP and am wondering which other brands to consider. Anybody have any suggestions as to what to look for.

 

[2smart]

1_What is your budget?- 1200- but i can possibly go up to 1500

2_How much screen size do you need?- 15" or more

3_How much screen resolution do you want?-1920x1200

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?-desktop replacement

5_How much battery life do you need?-desktop replacement- just extra for me

6_Do you want to play games with it? preferably high settings

7_What other tasks do you want to with your laptop?-schoolwork, coding, etc...

8_How much storage(H.D.D Capacity)do you need?- unsure as of yet, but i torrent

I'm mostly wondering about the video card, processor, and ram to choose. I'd also love to have a numpad. Which brand or models fit best?

 

[jundaboy]

dell studio xps 16 or just the studio

 

[Tunafish]

i recommend the sony VAIO F...very good laptop and fits ur budget...

i find VAIOs better looking tan HP and dell

 

[2smart]

Word- thanks a bunch. Here's where I'm at right now:
# Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz (vs. 1.73GHz w/ 3.06 turbo for $285 more)
# 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
# Blu-ray Disc™ player/burner
# Keyboard Backlight
# Standard Capacity Battery
# Black
# No Engraving
# Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
# 500GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm)
#16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)

Nobody thinks that I'm going to regret taking the less powerful processor right? I mean, they're both quad core so it doesn't seem worth $300 for that small of an upgrade. I'm going to get a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate and office software through my school so I just got the basic deal to save dough.

The total comes to $ 1,473 .68 w/ shipping.

If anybody comes up with another gaming laptop solution I'm still open to it for a day or two. I'm feeling pretty good about this one though. I'd like others' opinions of how this compares to similarly priced laptops, how fast it's going to be, and how long it's going to last me.

How do you guys feel about getting this laptop without a service plan? bad idea?

 

[Tunafish]

I can tell that is the VAIO F, and honestly, those are wicked specs...

Service plan? it's called a laptop case, my friend

 

[2smart]

I can tell that is the VAIO F, and honestly, those are wicked specs...

Service plan? it's called a laptop case, my friend

I'm still being tempted to bump that cpu up a notch hahaha, but I gotta stop being so ocd about it =P. I think this laptop is exactly what I need. Thanks for the help!

 

[2smart]

Scratch that... I found out that I was hired at a new job right before I purchased it. Went with the better CPU and 8 gigs of ram instead. woot

 

[2smart]

So i was thinking.... i went with

 

[2smart]

Best answer selected by 2smart.