Alright, so my Vaio will no longer let the power cord stay attached so I'm likely in the market for another laptop rather than continuing to use a bent paperclip and two rubber bands to hold it in place.

I use the laptop mainly for Word, internet, and some entertainment. However, I'm gearing up for Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO game next year. So, would something like this, direct from Toshiba, have the power I need and to last a couple years?

Satellite L550-ST2744
w/ these customizations: 17.3" widescreen, 8 gb ram, Intel core i5-520m processor 2.40 GHz (2.93 GHz w/ turboboost, 3mb L3 cache, 1066 MHz DDR3), 500 gb hard drive, and blu-ray disc RE, Intel integrated graphics (unfortunately I can't customize this)

Price comes to about $1200, which I don't think is too bad.

I've looked at Best Buy, Dell, Toshiba, and Sony. Is there anywhere else I should look at building a laptop? Thanks in advance.

I would not spend 1200 dollars on a laptop that doesn't even have dedicated graphics.

Also, 8 GB of RAM is way overkill. Settle for 6 or even 4 GB if possible.

I'd grab something that's at least got a Class 3 (midrange) video card off of this list, especially if you want to play a game that isn't even out yet.

Notebookcheck: Comparison of Graphic Cards (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html)

Edit: Notice that the mobile cards end with 'M'

Better deal (around 1200 with a processor upgrade). xoticpc is a totally legit place to order from.

ASUS K72JR-A1 (http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-k72jra1-p-2754.html?wconfigure=yes)

16" + Core i7 Quad + ATI 5730 < 1100

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-n61jqa1-p-2734.html?wconfigure=yes

The deals you can get nowadays are very good. Of course, I splurged on a Sony Vaio Z...but I got what I paid for.

Laptop Reviews - Notebook Reviews and Netbook Computer News & Reviews (www.notebookreview.com)

I have used this site when buying my last two laptops. Very, very helpful site...the forums especially so.

17.3 is barely portable IMO. I love the HP I have, but if I had it to do over again I would get a 15.

Dola
Anyone know anyplace that sells quality laptop carts? Everything I see is a cheap pile of shit around here. I'm not putting my 1000 laptop on a 30 dollar piece of junk. Ideally something with and adjustable arm for height, wheels, etc. Last thing I want to have happen is that I go out to the store and the cats like knock it off my table.

For the record, I owned, briefly, a HP Envy 15. It's a solid device...i7 + 1080p for an affordable price (with coupons that rotate quite a bit. Unfortunately, the -$450 coupon just ended). It has an innovative battery slice that covers the whole bottom of the laptop (also acting as a heat insulator away from your body). Unfortunately, it turns a 1" thick, 5-lb laptop until something heavier (the slice is about 2-3 lbs). If it weren't for the 13" Vaio Z, I would still have it.

Also, you may run into some issues with Intel supply at the moment. There is a massive shortage of the i7 620M chip (Sony stopped offering it a couple of days ago as a CTO option). Rumor has it the i5 chips are starting to suffer the same fate. I don't know the validity of those rumors...only that they're out there.

Thanks for the advice thus far, definitely looking at scaling back on the processor a bit and focusing a bit more on graphics. Thanks a ton!

Guys, thanks for all your advice, SovereignStar in particular as I went on a graphics card hunt (looks like this is a "Class 2" so I should be good there). I think I ended up doing okay, thanks to a friend I've got that works there. Here's what I ended up with:

Toshiba Satellite A500-ST6647
Intel Core i7-720QM w/ 1.6 GHz (2.8 GHz w/ Turbo Boost, 6MB L3 Cache, 1333MHz DDR3)
Windows 7 64-bit
6 GB DDR 1066MHz SDRAM
320GB HDD (7200rpm)
NVidia GeForce GT 330M w/ 1 GB GDDR3 discrete graphics
Blu-Ray Disc ROM
and some other crap they threw in like a backlit keyboard.

I ended up paying $1168.

I recently got a Toshiba, although a much lower end one because I wasn't concerned about gaming, and I've been very happy with it. Recently the Toshiba has really gotten good reviews - hope you're happy with that one!

Thanks Wade! I'm cautiously optimistic.

Alright, so my Vaio will no longer let the power cord stay attached so I'm likely in the market for another laptop rather than continuing to use a bent paperclip and two rubber bands to hold it in place.

pics plz k thx

pics plz k thx

Yeah, my wife has made fun of me for several days now but it looks slightly better than when I used electrical and duct tape.

In case anyone is looking for an almost new laptop, I'm selling my days old Lenovo Thinkpad T410. PM me if interested.

I am selling the brand new Lenovo Thinkpad T410 (model 2518C2U) that I just received as a graduation gift from my cousin because I already own a Macbook and I don't need both.

The Thinkpad is brand new. I turned it on and poked around for a bit but that's all. This Thinkpad is less than a week old and comes with a three year warranty from Lenovo.


Here are the specs:

Intel Core i5 2.40 GHz processor
2 GB RAM
250 GB HD (221 GB available after OS install)
Integrated Intel graphics card
Windows 7 Professional 32-bit Installed
Webcam
Fingerprint scanner for biometric login
Under warranty until April 22, 2013