Best i5 laptop $800 to $1200

1. What is your budget?

$800 to $1200

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

Physical size and weight doesnt matter


3. What screen resolution do you want?

17" is ideal but less would be OK

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?

2 hours+, I'd like to be able to watch a full movie on the battery if needed

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)?

NO

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

The intensive thing i do is music production. Ableton Live 8 with many tracks and plugins running simultanesoussly. Some Photoshop and dreamweaver. Bu really for intense music production. Ableton live, Sound forge, Cubase

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
300 GB or more


9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Newegg or tigerdirect, amazon, bestbuy, whatever good deal is available

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

3 years or more

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

normal DVD burner is fine

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.

dont care, i have had a Hp Zv6000 for 7 years now, time to upgrade..

13. What country do you live in?

USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

8gb of ram must be allowed if not included....6 GB of ram or more shoud be included...