New laptop

The Dell M1530 is a great machine, you can get super deals with coupons, only problem is that ..... its a Dell, and you have to deal with India. I had one and it was simply fab the overclocking potential was great on the GPU too which played most modern games on max except for notable exceptions such as Crysis; only problem was it came scratched so I returned it but may buy it again now that I'm starting law school. You also get much better resolution options on the screen when it comes to Dell and also LED backlit screens which give better blacks, less bleed and better battery life as well as being thinner and saving weight. I myself prefer the 1440x900 resolution which most notebook makers don't have as an option.

The Vaio FZ series especially the FZ21S or FZ21Z is a good look too as it comes with BLURAY I think their price has lowered since the new FZ3 series. My sister had one and the screen was blisteringly beautiful.

Also take a glance at the ASUS G1 I think the price has fallen a bit, but its not as slim as Dell and a little bit more expensive with a lesser spec on the GPU (only DDR 2 on most models) but a good machine none the less.

A good thing to note is if you want to game make sure the GPU memory is DDR3. For example a 8600mGT might have 512mb and DDR2 memory but will be outperformed and won't be as good as a 8600mGT with only 256mb because it has DDR3 memory.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Cam

Most importantly: MAKE SURE YOUR HARD DRIVE IS AT LEAST 7200RPM. If the drives' cache is listed, you'll want one with at least 16mb.
I can't stress this enough, I've seen laptops with fast hardware but loading ANYTHING is still fucking horribly slow because of the vastly inferior low performance budget hard disk.

I've had 4 makes of 7200rpm drives and I think brands are important. Fujitsu, Seagate and Western Digital made my laptop sound like jet engines.

However the Hitachi 7200 Travelstar 160GB drive wasn't louder than a regular 5400rpm; it was positively quiet and it also had great performance with 16mb Cache.

It used to be before that Hitachi hardrives which used to be owned by IBM sucked (they sill do in the desktop market) but I'm oh so impressed with the travelstar series much more reliable then they used to be, however they are a little pricey. If a manufacturer doesn't offer it, its better to go with the cheapest option hardrive and replace it with a good one yourself.

If you want to game get the 7200rpm drive however there isn't a huge boost in performance that I've noticed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If you do worry about a warm laptop you can buy cooling stand rests. Personally I have never used them. But it is true 7200rpm drives do run hotter.

The ASUS G1 has had positive reviews, personally I myself never buy anything ASUS but it is a good product.

I think the SONY VAIO FZ21M (BR RW) or FZ21S(BR player) would suit your really nicely thinking back to my sisters laptop but I'm not so sure about their pricing in the US. Problem is it comes with the 8600m GS DDR3 which is slower than the GT. If you don't mind sacrificing a little bit of gaming performance for Bluray and a great screen its a good deal. BIG WARNING!! it comes packed to the brim with a ton of bloatware and shit you can't believe so it needs a complete reformat out the box for someone like me, this is a big disadvantage with all Vaio computers unfortunately. Its handy with HDMI which the ASUS G1 and Dell M1530 all have as standard.

Although the M1530 is a Dell and that is disadvantage in itself the shear options at such a cheap price makes it really attractive, you can probably get a fully kitted one for about $1400 even less with coupons which you find on the web. It games fantastically I can vouch for that and its built very well but I'm not entirely sure about the design. In red it looks stunning. Big problem some people say is the hardrive is a little noisy usually becuase its a Fujitsu. It did have problems with bleed but Dell now use LG screens which are vastly superior.

Also may I ask what size laptop are you looking at 13", 15.4", 17" etc... as some of the top end cards like the 8800m GT are only avaliable in 17" laptops only and the 8600m GT is avaliable starting at the 15.4" size.

Also a great place to ask as I did is here Notebook and Laptop Reviews, make a thread in their advice forum you'll get a lot of advice and quick.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.