Maximum PC

Hey!!! My parents laptop completely died about an hour ago and I am getting off all there personal stuff off (photos, files, etc) and they are buying my current laptop for $450! AMD Phenom II N850 Tri core, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 res and such. And I am upgrading to a real machine! minimum of GTX 660M and i7. Saw this on Ebay for cheap and was curious if any one has any good ideas for a good laptop. My current favorite laptop http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sager-Clevo-NP9 ... 337e8862b7 . Issue is it ends in 3 hours... so any other good ideas or should I wait for another good deal like it? Also when will the 700 series cards be available? Thanks!

First: don't let the thrill of the auction convince you into buying something without having time to think. A deal like that probably pops up every week or so and the more you wait on a purchase, the better your chances of a steal.

Second: What do you plan to do on your laptop? Gaming? Web surfing? Text editing? Graphic design? 3D modeling? Linux? Posing in Starbucks? If you're not going to use any demanding applications, might as well step down a notch and gain battery life and build quality.

Third: If you're buying the system to game, nothing beats building your own desktop. Gaming laptops typically have < 2 hours battery life and don't have the value advantage of graphics card upgrades. MaxPC's baseline is a great configuration. Ditch the hard drive and get a cheaper case to save money.

Forth: SSDs are a necesity in laptops. No worries about bumps, blazing speed, and instant on from sleep.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/build_pc_blueprints_november_2012

As for recommendations, it all depends on your needs, but I really like the Thinkpad brand of laptops. They have good looks, durable casing, great battery life and a keyboard unrivaled by any others (the new chiclet style keyboard has a few though). I use a Thinkpad X201 Tablet that is great for graphic design and web development and gets around six hours of battery life.

Hey! Yeah I don't have ALL the cash this second just want to start getting ideas for one. But if all goes good.... I should have the cash in about 2 weeks. So yeah I wasn't going to buy that laptop I was just thinking something like it. And I will be doing a lot with it! Gaming, Skype, Music, Video editing, PhotoShop CS6, AutoDesk 3DS Max 2013, Audiocity, STEAM, UDK (or better known as Unreal Engine 3), and a bunch of other programs. And I already own a desktop.
Specs.
PC

i7 3930K 3.2GHZ

EVGA GTX 580 3072MB

ASUS Rampage IV Extreme

24GB DDR3 Quad Channel

1200W Raidmax PSU 80 Plus Gold

1TB Western Digital Caviar

120GB OCZ Vertex IV Boot Drive

CM Storm ATX Full Tower Case

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit (with ROG theme)

So I already have alot of power.... Just not when I am mobile. And a SSD yeah would be cool but... they are really expensive so I would only have a Boot SSD and also my STEAM game library is over 700GB. And a SSD to hold that much is well... not cheap. So I am wanting a 1TB HDD then upgrade to a 120GB Boot SSD later.Also if the laptop only has 500GB (for example) then I will order a 1TB after I order the laptop (same day). And I want a Alienware preferably. M17x or M18x (prefer M18x) with 1920x1080 screen. Any M18x and any M17x that is R3 or higher. And really really want it with an i7 and a Nvidia GPU. But if its a killer deal for a Alienware with a ATI then I might get that instead.Want to spend about $1,000. Thanks!

I've used the M17x R4 before- the screen looked great (very glossy though), and the keyboard was not bad at all and had awesome backlighting. Just be warned that the thing is absolutely gargantuan and very heavy. If you're just going to lug it indoors and set it down on a desk for the week, that's fine, but if you plan on carrying it around everywhere you might want to get something smaller and lighter.

Yeah I have heard they are very heavy! I just really want an Alienware though. The M18x Would be nice because it is upgradable. And My last laptop. Boy I wish I had the option to upgrade! A ATI 4250 does not do good with gaming! Also I have been dreaming of owning an Alienware since before DELL purchased the company and just don't think I would be happy unless its a Alienware laptop. Also if someone can confirm that the CPU and GPU can be upgraded then I would even go with a M18x with a i7 2630QM and a GTX 460M. Then upgrade to a GTX 680M and a i7 3630QM. But I also heard that that GTX 680M uses PCI-E 3.0. Is this true? If so I also think I heard the M17x R4 and M18x R2 have PCI-E 3.0 on every model. Is it that big of a difference using it on 2.0 rather than 3.0? Thanks!