In Dire Need of Laptop Advice

Hi Folks,

I am having so much trouble picking out a new laptop (sandybridge is a must). I've been looking on so many sites for reviews and advice and just can't seem to pick the right laptop. The current one I have my eyes on is the Sony Vaio 14" C series. Below is a list of questions answered for a bit more help.


1. What is your budget? $1200 - $1500 


2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 14-15



3. What screen resolution do you want? Hi Def



4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? No, looking for something mobile.


5. How much battery life do you need? 4-5 hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? Not much gaming, maybe some minor gaming, but some photoshop work as well.


7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) Basic internet use, very light gaming, photo editing (web design)


8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 128gb (prefer SSD). 



9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Was looking at the new Sony Vaio S and the Dell XPS



10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 2-3 Years



11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? I don't care as far as I can buy an external one 



12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. I want something with great build quality. I'm not a fan of the plastic cheap built laptops out there (like some dells). I don't mind sacrificing a bit of weight for better build quality.

Thank you in advance.

Hello FerrariFast;

http://www.xoticpc.com/ has Asus and custom laptops you can customize to your requirements.

You can customize a Sager NP5160 15" notebook to include a Core i7-2630QM 2Ghz Sandy Bridge CPU, 8GB RAM, a 128GB Intel Elm Crest 510 SATA III SSD and a 1920x1080 LCD screen w/ GT 540M Optimus graphics card for right around $1300 with Win7 included. Other configuration options are available.

**Official Sager NP5160 Owners' Lounge** notes and comments from owners included.