So I'm in the market for a new box. A slightly thinner one than I'm accustomed to. I'm looking at a laptop in the 1500$ range. The last time I did research on the latest processors/etc. was when i built my current rig a few years ago and my amd 4800x2 toledo was the top of the line at around a thousand dollars. The new lingo and terminology for notebook peripherals has me completely bumfuzzled. There's just so much out there now, and i need the help of someone much nerdier than I.

I basically want as powerful a machine i can get for the aforementioned price. I'm looking for high quality and good reputation. I can feasibly go as high as 1700, but I'd rather not. Gaming is important as well as functionality. I've been looking at the Sony VGNAR520E. Alienware has a similar lap out with some of the same specs, but I'm just not sure how powerful these new mobile vidcards are.

If anyone could give me some suggestions or explanations of some of the hardware differences I'd be greatly appreciative. And since this community is so great and so helpful in the past, I'm sure it wont take long to have a plethera of info!

It might be good to start with some reviews. www.tomshardware.com has excellent reviews on gamer motherboards, video graphics cards, and power supplies. Some are updated monthly. Very Thorough. You will learn a lot. Also try www.anandtech.com