Recommend me a laptop!

• Are there any good notebook computers out there for a reasonable price? I am in the market for a new laptop, but haven't been able to find one with all the characteristics I am looking for, for a reasonable price. Please recommend me one! Here are my requirements: -A bright 15.4" screen, or possibly 14.1" but it must have a resolution HIGHER than my current screen, which is 1280x800. WSXGA+ would be perfect. -An intel penryn (or better?) processor with 3 or more mb of L2 cache. -At least 160gb hard drive, preferably 7200rpm. Or maybe a 250gb+ but slower hard drive. -Discrete (nvidia or ati) graphics with at least 256mb. I don't really play games, but I want the option to play a nice new game once in a while. -DVD RW drive -Fast, rock-solid reliable wifi that is as up-to-date as possible. I don't know what standard is the latest, but I just don't want it to be obsolete for a very, very long time. Issues with wireless connectivity have been the bane of my existence on my current (4+ year old) notebook, so I want something that will work with every network out there and have no compatibility issues. -Bluetooth -A nice, clean, tasteful, business-like design -A great, smooth touchpad -Relatively light and thin, under 6 lbs would be nice -Webcam -I don't really care about the speakers The closest I've been able to find at a reasonable price is the HP dv5t, which, with approximately all of the above specs, comes out to just under $1000 with a current 30% off coupon. That would be perfect, except I tried it in the store, and hated the look and feel. The whole thing is too shiny and ugly, the screen is too reflective, and the touchpad is glossy, which makes it much less smooth to use. I love the look and feel of macbooks/macbook pros (and from what I can tell so far, especially the new ones) but they seem to be way overpriced for the specs you get - i.e. an HP or similar with comparable specs is several hundred dollars cheaper. I also like the Lenovo Thinkpad T series, but they are also much more expensive in general and I can't seem to configure them with any more than 128mb video. The Ideapads look pretty nice as well, but they don't come with high resolution screens. Is there a notebook out there that satisfies these (admittedly picky) requirements? Or do I just have to shell out the extra cash for a Macbook? (I don't want to do this, I'd really rather have a PC, and not just because of the lower cost. I just can't find one I like). Budget: I'm looking for something at the $1000 mark, but I'd be willing to pay up to $1400 for something that is exactly what I'm looking for. Also, I can wait, if something good is coming out in the next few months.

• Answer:

  My current laptop was from http://www.powernotebooks.com/ They generally start with barebones laptops and build them more or less to order. I had thought about building my own, but powernotebooks offered a 3 year warranty and the price was more than reasonable. I've had my laptop for 2 years and the only problem I've had is the DVD laser going bad in some way (played CDs fine, just not some DVDs). They sent me a new drive and I sent the old one back in the same box. Here's what sold me on this company when I was shopping 2 years ago: 1) One of their employees frequently hung out at http://forum.notebookreview.com/ and was always ready to answer questions about their products. He'd even help people who bought the same barebones system from another dealer He even helped the people who wanted to overclock their video card (one company was intentionally throttling their video cards to increase battery life) 2) Price and flexibility. Their customization options are much better than Dell/HP/etc. Most importantly, ifI don't want to buy windows with my new laptop, I don't have to. You can have them install as many or as few of the components as you want (although only the ones they install will be covered by the warranty). I was also able to get a 9-cell battery instead of the standard 6-cell 3) Warranty - as I said, 3 year warranty and I don't think it added much to the price 4) Customer Service. This was a big one. I had a Dell before this laptop. I had to repeatedly call customer service. Worst phone experience of my life. When you call customer service (I believe it's 24/7), a real person answers the phone and says "Hello." Also, English seems to be this person's first language. Not only that, but they don't treat you like an idiot and I get the impression that the person who answers the phone actually does a lot of the work, because they've never had to transfer me when I tell them what I think the problem is and why. I guess after my experience with Dell, the biggest things on my mind were warranty (since my dell died in little over a year) and customer service, but I didn't want to pay a ton for it. Powernotebooks was the way to go. If you're worried about buying a generic brand, most of their laptops are (or at least used to be, haven't checked recently), built on Compal (which notebookreview says is the 2nd largest laptop maker) or MSI, whose motherboards I've always loved. If you don't like powernotebooks.com, you could try http://www.xoticpc.com/, they sell systems built on a lot of the same barebones and I think they have similar pricing