New Notebook Suggestions (Please Read)

Hello,

My current laptop's battery is shot, case is cracked, power supply is broken and in general is about had the biscuit. It's a Core Duo T2050 @ 1.6Ghz with 1GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive. Intel 945GM video. The thing has served me well but is about 3.5 years old now and is not in good shape. I could fix the battery and powersupply but that'll set me back probably about 1/4 - 1/3 of the price of a much better new machine. Perhaps it is time to take the plunge and I hope you have suggestions.

I use my computer for Photoshop, After Effects, Camtasia, Office Apps, browsing, e-mail, web development, and very rarely a game or two. I don't generally play fancy games or that often so that's not a huge issue. I would like to run Vista/Windows 7 on this new machine. It doesn't need to be ultra portable as most of the time it will be a desktop replacement but I want to be able to re-locate with it easily and access wireless networks while on the move. I have a pretty decent laptop backpack so weight is annoying but can be dealt with for those specific times I have to take it somewhere. Here is one system that I have been looking at:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10126605&catid=

I am still a student so I am poor. Thus, I am setting my budget under 1000$. What do you think of this LG? Good deal? If not, where would be a better place to get it? I am in Toronto (Canada) until the 18th of August and then I am off to Halifax, Nova Scotia for 8 months.

I had considered getting a desktop and a netbook to suit my needs, but it seems that for the money, I get more out of having one decent laptop and perhaps a nice external hard drive.

What is your advice to me?

The biggest FPS I would ever play is Counter-Strike: Source (been rotting on my steam account for years) and besides that I tend to be mostly a Real Time Strategy guy. I hope to be able to play StarCraft II on this thing but it's hardly my primary consideration. For the most part, any games I play are very old. heh.

I like having a dedicated video card, but it seems tough. I don't know many retailers who offer many samsung laptops otherwise I'd have taken a look. I don't mind anything from 14" - 16" but I want to stay within striking distance of this price. I would pay another hundred or so if I could get a considerable performance benefit in a good package. But this thing seems to have a nice high resolution screen as well.

Screen quality is a big deal for me as it affects nearly everything I do. Anyone have much experience with LG's laptop screens?

EDIT:

Here's a Samsung for the same price... though a bit uglier aesthetically:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10126101&catid=25315

What do people think of those two? Anyone have much experience with the two in terms of build quality? One thing I've learned about Toshibas... they're made out of crappy plastic that wears and breaks easily.

OUCH, no wireless N on that samsung.