Your thoughts on building a laptop

Is it cheaper and easier to build a fast laptop or to buy one? my son is going into uni next year to study game design and 3d graphics. what sort of specs should I be looking for?

There's very few brands that you recognize that actually build their own laptops....Asus and Acer are two. But HP, Dell, and everyone else whose name you'd recognize are build by an ODM. One of those ODM's is Clevo and they are the oens usually at the forefront of gaming and hi end computing.

Among others, laptops from Alienware, WidowPC, FalconNorthwest, VoodooPC are or at one time were made by Clevo. Many US models are made here by a Clevo subsidiary (www.pro-star.com) caled Prostar. My two oldest kids went off to college w/ Prostar laptops, I have two currently and all told I have bought about 10.

Have had the same salesman / tech support dude for all of them. I'm guessing by your post that you are on the other side of the pond though so I'd search for Clevo Laptops and see what comes up for local distributors.

See if they will help you ehre:

http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/about/worlds_s.asp