laptop questions...

my friend wants to get a laptop. he has been asking me what he should get because i am fairly knowledgealbe with desktops but i honestly dont really know the first thing about laptops. he has been talking to a local dealer that builds desktops/laptops but he is not very forth coming with information so we can compare prices, etc. if we could just find a barebones laptop that we can add the ram, hdd, etc too that would be great but i am having trouble finding some. the budget for this laptop would be close to $1000 but willing to go up to $1300 if nessacary. we went to killernotebooks and are possibly thinking about the interceptor as a possible candidate, looks like a very nice laptop.

from what i gather the current config on the laptop from the local guy is:

amd sempron 64 1.6Ghz...3000+ i am assuming
120gig hdd @7200rpm...apparently...i frown on the rpm b/c its a laptop
1x1gig ram stick
8x dvd+rw/dl
256mb integrated graphics
wireless card
15.4" screen with truelife
xp pro

the cost is apparetnly 1300 with tax and labor included...

i was under the impression that you cant put semprons into a laptop *shrugs* but i could be wrong.

any help or suggestions is most appreciated.