Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: Budget of 1300(max) looking for a student laptop

You can fully customize a dell 1505 or a hp dv6000t with a lot better hardware than the machine on your link. For best preformance-to-price ratio, customize a notebook with a t7200 core 2 duo processor 2.0ghz and try to stay away from integrated graphics cards if you plan on doing some gaming.

here's a link:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNCWEA1&s=dhs

in addition; if you configure a 1505 that's over $999, use this code to get an additional 20% off discount: 9J8GXZ1S0RXMB? (valid thru march 1)

here's a link for the dv6000t: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=series_detail&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion/dv6000_series&series_name=dv6000t_series&aoid=33495&kw=hp+dv6000t

not so much maintenance, but rather customer support. But customer support is generally bad all around for all the big name brands so it doesn't really matter.

If you want to play games and you are a student, I'd recommend something nice and light with a decent graphics card. I'd recommend an Asus computer from newegg.com. Unless you're pretty into technology you probably haven't heard much about them in the US, but they are a huge reputable company and you can get a decent two year warranty. I'd recommend this model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834220104. It may squeak in just under your budget and it has a big hard drive, fast processor, plenty of ram, decent battery life, nice build quality, and a great price. I realize you might want to stick with brands like Dell and HP, but, honestly, after having owned both of them, I can safely say you miss anything. (Plus HP and Dell don't actually make their own stuff anyway, they contract out to companies like Asus, Compal, and Clevo). Good luck.