Maximum PC

Hey, So after just getting this laptop i am already considering getting another one mainly due to the graphics hardware not being what i really do need. Here is my current system:
HP Pavilion DV7-4278NR
AMD Phenom II Dual core 3.0GHZ
4GB DDR3 Ram
500GB HDD
Bluray reader/DVD+/-RW with lightscribe
ATI Radeon HD 4200 or 4250 graphics
17.3" LED LCD screen with up 1600x900 resolution
webcam, mic, HDMI, 4 USB, SD card slot and large track pad.

I really like this laptop but i dont like the graphics on how slow it really is. even my 10 year old dell with a geforce 6200 does better than this machines graphics. i also would like a bigger trackpad but as i am renting this machine in order to do school and other stuff in the time being i dont really have much choice with it.

I would like a similar system but of course with better graphics card and maybe a bigger hard drive. My budget is under $1200 for it. I would like to get a mac but they are way too expensive for what the base models come with.

I do have a question about Intel graphics because i've been hearing that they are a lot better. would it be good with playing games like.. Dirt 3, Sims 3+2, COD black Ops, Command & conquer series, civ 4+5, and many other games as this system has become my xbox since i cant take it with me to college. the computer i have now is able to play all of those games on low except for the sims games which can be played at high settings. resolution on which they play doesn't matter to me yet so if it can get like 40+FPS on dirt 3 in 1024x768 i'm perfectly fine with it. like this machine can play COD at 800x600 at around 30FPS but anything higher resolution wise seems to make the game really hard to play.

I have looked at this system but i dont like how it is re-certified.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834157896

Now in the past i have tried to stay AMD because they offer better power saving and thermal capabilities but i'm open to trying an Intel system again.

Thanks!

Anyone?

Hi Renodude! I'm from Carson City, myself.

For playing games, you want a dedicated graphics card, no way around it. But, of course not all dedicated graphics are created equal. Much like in desktop graphics, you'll be looking for an x500+ series AMD card or an x50+ series from nVidia.

The HP you linked seems to have serious quality control issues, I'd be wary of buying it even new. It's graphics card also isn't the greatest. But, it does have a BluRay player, which is nice!

You could check out this Acer Aspire which has an i5, a better graphics card, same hard drive, same size/resolution screen. It just has a DVD player, though. But, it does have much better ratings, for what that's worth.

Thanks for the reply travatron and i used to go to carson all the time back when i lived in NV. What do you mean by quality issues? I have a similar HP as the one i linked and its great for the most part. Now about the Acer, I'm not to fond of Acer laptops or computers mainly because i've had two now both old and new and both broke down within a few months which ment i had to spend time fixing them and the one time i decided to let the warranty fix it they wanted me to pay way too much for shipping just to have a couple things fixed that i could of done but decided to try the alternate route and do it on my own. The Acer laptop i had recently had very poor quality meaning the hinge for the screen became lose after about a month and i most the time had it open on my desk. there was also the hard drive i had to replace twice till i found out it was the motherboard or something that was causing the problem so from then on i just gave up on it. but in terms of price Acer is very competitive. The one one thing or maybe two things i like about my HP and the one i linked is that it has a finger print reader and i absolutely love the beats audio speakers although i wish the sub woofer was a bit more powerful but then again a SSD would be in need from the shock of the Sub. anyway thanks for the help!