Looking for reviews/ideas for new laptop

[Jodah]

Okay, long story short my current laptop is on the way out (case is cracking/broken in several places and no warranty). It may work for awhile longer but since I am going to law school I do not want to risk it dying half way through the year and getting fucked over. After talking with my dad we've decided a new laptop is in order.

Requirements:
* I already have any software I would need short of the OS.
* I would like for it to be able to run some games and other media, though it will not be my main gaming rig by any means. The primary purpose will be school work.
* Approx $1000 budget, can go slightly over but saving is always nice.
* Don't want a Dell.

This is what I'm looking at right now but any other suggestions are nice as well. It is an HP.


Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M Accelerated Processor (3.2GHz/2.3GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7730M Graphics
FREE Upgrade to 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
No additional security software
9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone + HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
802.11b/g/n WLAN
Backlit Keyboard

[Deleted]

In my life i've had 2 acers, and a MSI.
Both acer laptops had serious hardware problems after a year or so, the MSI case started falling apart quickly.
Went with a macbook after that, didn't really want to get something from apple but hey, it still works perfectly, might be worth a shot.
If that's really not an option, some friends of me have a sony Vaio, which they are quite happy with.

[n0cturnal]

I would stay away from HPs "entertainment" laptops, pretty much the whole Pavilion series.
All Pavilion I've seen have been having issues with overheating and bad batteries.
Only HP I would ever consider using is the Envy series.

Also I hope the model you are looking at is nowhere near $1000.

Take a look at ASUS or Lenovo if you want a quality computer.

[Jodah]

How about this Lenovo for $1100:

3rd generation Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor( 2.30GHz 6MB)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64
NVIDIA GeForce GTX660M 2GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
15.6" FHD LED Glare Wedge 1920x1080
Industry Standard Multi-touch 2 button touchpad
1TB 5400RPM+32GB SSD
Blu-ray/DVD-RW
6 Cell Li-Polymer Battery
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200BGN
Bluetooth
One year warranty
Notebook
HD Camera
HDMI (Out)

[n0cturnal]

How about this Lenovo for $1100:

3rd generation Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor( 2.30GHz 6MB)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64
NVIDIA GeForce GTX660M 2GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
15.6" FHD LED Glare Wedge 1920x1080
Industry Standard Multi-touch 2 button touchpad
1TB 5400RPM+32GB SSD
Blu-ray/DVD-RW
6 Cell Li-Polymer Battery
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200BGN
Bluetooth
One year warranty
Notebook
HD Camera
HDMI (Out)

That is a pretty powerful laptop, probably more than you were looking for.