Shopping for a new Laptop

1_What is your budget?

- Around 500-700

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

- not too picky.

3_What screen resolution do you want?

- The higher the better.

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

- It will be both. For home gaming and for school work.

5_How much battery life do you need?

- 3-5 hours should be ok

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)?

- Yes. I used to be into MMO's but it's been a while, still I'd like to be able to play the new Star Wars MMO when it comes out. The best res i can get, but mostly i just want to make sure any game i play is smooth, not jerky, and i need to make sure the laptop is capable of playing most anything, even if on low graphics settings.

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

- Video editing, audio editing, photoshop, movies. So yeah, just about all of that. I do a lot of graphics work in Adobe programs, I also input audio directly from other sources into Adobe Audition and edit, compile, add effects ect. I do a little video editing as well. But even a lower end laptop will put my current PC to shame in number crunching.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

- I can always upgrade this later, so i'm not too worried about space initially.

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

- I just care that the product is solid, not where i get it from.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

- I pretty much run my computers into the ground, i've had my current one going on 10 years, but it's been upgraded multiple times. I guess as long as possible is my best answer.

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

- I have to be able to write multi-layer dvd's, so at least that. bluray would be nice, but not absolutely necessary.

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've always built my own computers but never had a laptop before. So i'm pretty new to the scene, which is why i'm posting here for some help. I'm fine with buying brand names if the package deal is cheaper for cost/bang/buck and i don't particularly have a preference.

13_What country do you live in?

- USA, Ohio.


14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

- I may have to save up for a while if the price range is on the upper part of my budget, so I was considering waiting until after the new year when prices usually drop and special deals can be found. On a related note, I have no idea what's going to happen with the new processors on the laptop market, so if anyone has any idea what direction they're taking and which are the future generation, i'd appreciate the feedback. I've done a bit of research already and found the Core 2 Duo to be probably the best in my price range, but I also found that they've been out for quite some time and that new stuff is flooding in. I'd like to get something that will be at least decent for quite a while, or at least upgradable.

Thanks ahead of time for the help. I really appreciate it.

What systems at what price range do you suggest for what i'm looking for?