Having Desktop and Laptop Trouble, Seeking advice...

[Damerae]

Hello Everyone!

I'm a college student and recently my Dell XPS laptop died... The graphics card (Go7800 GTX) burned out... A ridiculous issue with that generation of the Dell XPS.

Therefore, I am back in the market, and instead of making a huge mistake this time by spending a bunch of money, I would like to approach buying a new computer the appropriate way.

I would like to keep my budget around $1200 for both a custom built desktop as well as a cheap laptop for college.

What I had in mind for a desktop was:

Case: NZXT GAMMA Classic
Power Supply: Corsair 650TX V2
CPU: Intel Core I5 - 2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)
Fan: Cooler Master Hyper
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel
Memory: 4GB G.Skill RipJaws F3 4GB 12800 DDR3
GPU: XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB or Galaxy 60XGH3HS3CUD Geforce GTX 465 1GB
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB (WHEN PRICES GO BACK DOWN)
Disc Drive: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW

This build is around $757... Give Or Take

I have no clue what laptop to purchase that would be light, small, thin and convenient for me to carry around at college.

I was hoping I could get some input on the build I put together for a desktop as well as the best bang for the buck laptop for college.

I really appreciate any advice. Thank you.