Windows 7 - How much farther will my $1400 go today?

On 12/17/08 I spent $1400 on a shiny new notebook. $1400 price tag includes $139 3 year extended warranty no accidental damage.

15.4"WSXGA+
INTEL WI-FI LINK 5100AGN
VISTA HOME PREMIUM 64bit
GeForce 9600M GT
C2D P9500 2.53 GHz 6MB 1066
4096MB DDR2 800 (2 DIMMS
2.5" SATA 250GB(7200rpm) HDD

3 Year Extended Warranty. Starting Date: (12/18/2008) End Date: (12/26/2011) @ $139.

If I were in the market today with the same budget how much better could I really do? I always purchase an extended warranty, so please take that into consideration. Thanks for your opinions

Also, I have never had to send the notebook in for a warranty claim and as you can see I am days away from the three year mark when it will expire. Should I send it in for anything preventative or something like that? Maybe it doesn't work like that haha. One of my USB ports is broken because I jammed a dongle in it upside down and bent one of the prongs inward, I assume they would not warranty my stupidity, but do you think I should give it a shot?

Here is a list of 50 laptops, from $1000 to $1250


Newegg.com - PCs & Laptops, Laptops / Notebooks, $1000 - $1250

Some have screens 17 inches or larger.

Some have an SSD.

Most have an Intel i5 or i7 processor.

Most have Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional; usually 64-bit.

Anywhere from 2 pounds to 9 pounds.

Here are 4 from 4 different manufacturers out of the 50 for comparison, all between $1186 and $1238. You would have to add in more for your extended warranty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%204023&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=32|34-230-028^34-230-028-TS%2C34-246-104^34-246-104-02%23%2C34-157-832^34-157-832-02%23%2C34-200-335^34-200-335-TS


Compare the specifications.

My general thoughts:

Get a desktop PC unless you need the portability of a laptop. For the same money, a desktop is far stronger.

You may not notice superior performance with a new laptop if you don’t cause your current laptop to ever break a sweat.

I would generally ride the current laptop until it would not readily do something I wanted to do, rather than upgrade. Of course, I have no idea if you have money falling out of your pockets. If you do, knock yourself out.

This one for $1200 includes an SSD and for that reason might make the most noticeable difference of any of them. Of course, you could just get an SSD for your current laptop.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834131128

That would be accidental damage

$1400 will go a looong way. A full hog i7 processored laptop with decent dedicated gpu would be within budget.
What do you use your laptop for?
I'm going to be shocking and put a macbook into the equation!

I made the jump at the end of 2010 and I have windows on a virtual machine that intigrates with mac os so its 2 os's in one. But not windowed.

Like you I used to have a high budget, but I've been so impressed I'd only ever get a mac for a laptop lol

Ill be running away now before I get beaten with sticks for offering that input lol

the only intensive thing on use my notebook for would be Second Life and thats about it. I do, on occasion, convert video and wouldn't mind seeing a bump in that direction. I am not against leaving a notebook for a desktop but do I have to get a huge machine? SSD seems the way to go as I never even come close to filling up any HDD I have.


p.s. thanks for all that info, ignatzatsonic