Looking for Deskstop Replacement

[DernbachW]

1. What is your budget? $Up to $800

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 17.3"

3. What screen resolution do you want? HD, 720 is fine. LED Backlit.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Desktop replacement - will be taking to work to do graphics work, Adobe Photoshop, Vegas

5. How much battery life do you need? Doesn't really matter, will need to keep it pluged in.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? Star Craft 2, med settings is fine.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Photo/video editing, some gaming, netflix.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 500 GB or more. don't really think needing 7200 rpm is necessary since I'm doing more storage, but if its availble, sounds good.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Amazon or Newegg

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? A few years, got 4 out of my last one, so 3 years would be great.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD is fine, blu-ray not necessary

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. Not Dell

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Need HDMI out port.

 

[WR2]

Hello DernbachW;

It's worth looking at the HP Pavilion dv7t 17.3-inch "Sandy Bridge" Laptop
About $725 when configured with the Core i5-2410M dual core CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD, 17.3" 1600x900 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6490M graphics.
AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics review Just at the low end of what would run SC II on medium settings.

The quad core i7-2360M equipped Pavilion dv7 @ $840 comes with 8GB RAM and much the same options.

 

[WR2]

With a bit more GPU power: A pair of Acer 17" notebooks with Core i5 ($680) and Core i7 ($850) with Radeon HD 6650M which should run SC II on solid medium settings.

Radeon HD 6650M graphics review

 

[ram1009]

Whatever else you do be sure to provide some sort of external cooling.

 

[DernbachW]

What do you mean by extreanl cooling. Just a lapdesk with some fans or just be sure to keep the laptop elevated to aid in cooling.