[NV]

Hey guys;

I've been thinking about picking up a laptop because I've realized that it might be nice to not be tied down to my rig. I know I have certain demands for power, but I don't know how current laptops will match up to them. I could obviously get an i7 and be more than set power-wise, but that would defeat the portability I'm looking for (arguable, but as far as I'm concerned, it would.)

So anyway, I'm looking for something with power comparable to my old P4 rig that I just upgraded from. P4 3.2 GHz with HT and 2 gigs of RAM. I don't expect the same type of graphics capacity (but I won't shun it, that's for sure!) but for reference it had a 6800 GT. I also would want some pretty decent battery life. Maybe 5 hours? Longer is obviously better.

Specific features I've been thinking about are tablet, netbook (ok, that's hardly a feature, you get the idea), and SSDs. I know tablets are usually kinda pricey, and SSDs have generally the same effect. I'm pretty sure a netbook wouldn't have the kind of power I'm looking for, but the extreme portability is very attractive. I throw these ideas out there anyway because I'm interested in knowing what's available.

Clearly relevant is what I plan to use the laptop for. Websurfing, light gaming, schoolwork. One of the reasons I'm interested in tablets, despite the price, is that I'm an engineering student, so if I were to take notes with the laptop in class it would be very important to be able to draw diagrams and such. For gaming, I don't game very much but I would like to be able to play things on the order of WoW in terms of hardware requirements. (I don't actually play WoW, but I know its fully 3D yet easy on hardware, so I think it makes a decent reference.) If it were able to do some very light CAD it wouldn't be a bad thing.


I'm approaching this not from a "I'm going to buy, what should I buy with X budget?" perspective and more of "I'm looking for something in roughly this range, what would it cost/will it fit in my budget or what range of hardware does my budget allow for?" and if the feedback is favorable I may go ahead and purchase something. What might that budget be? ~$700-$800. Probably more if it were a tablet because that makes the computer a decent amount more useful from a strictly utilitarian perspective.

So what kinds of options am I looking at? Am I completely off my rocker? Am I going to be able to find something that fits my requirements and then some?

As ever, thanks for the help guys