Thin Netbook for Sale

Three years ago I purchased an Alienware Area-51 laptop. I regretted it— I realized later that it was a bit of a lemon, and had no end of technical issues.

Now I’m looking for a new one. As you can see from my old laptop, I’m looking for a gaming laptop, but it also needs to be a good laptop for a student. That said, I don’t play a lot of FPSes, so I don’t need a bleeding-edge laptop— just one that can, say, run World of Warcraft smoothly on the high settings and run something like Left 4 Dead well.

1) What is your budget? – As much as $3,000 dollars if it’s the perfect fit. Ideally, $2500 or less

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

a. Netbook; 10” screen or less
b. Ultraportable; 11″ – 12” screen
c. Thin and Light; 13″ – 14″ screen
d. Mainstream; 15″ – 16″ screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17″+ screen – 17”+ is ideal, and I won’t go smaller then 16”.

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don’t like?

a. Like: None in particular, though HP is ok. Also, I’ve liked the specs I’ve seen on some ASUS products.
b. Dislike: Dell, Mac

5) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? – Low to mid-intensity gaming, student usage

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? – Both

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games or types of games? – As stated above, games with middling graphics intensity like World of Warcraft and most Steam titles not named Half Life 2.
How many hours of battery life do you need?
3 is ideal. 2 is good. 1.5 is mandatory.

9) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you’re considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc. – Only have experience with Windows.

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

a. WXGA – 1280×800 or occasionally 1280×768; For people who like big text and icons that are easy to read. Less stuff fits on the screen, which translates into more scrolling.
b. WXGA+ – 1440×900; A modest bump over WXGA. Text and icons are a bit smaller. A little more stuff fits on the screen.
c. WSXGA+ – 1680×1050; The middle ground. Again, text and icons are smaller than WXGA+, and more stuff fits onto the screen. Good for having applications open side by side, like a web browser while playing a video.
d. WUXGA – 1920×1200; Very small text and icons, that can be hard to read. Lots of stuff fits on the screen, which means less scrolling. Good for applications that require a high level of detail like CAD or Photo Editing.

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? – Glossy is ideal

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook’s looks and stylishness important to you? – Fairly.

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last? – Don’t knew when I’ll be buying it (possibly soon), but I’d like it to last a minimum of 3 years with little trouble.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 500GB? Do you want a SSD drive? 250+GB. 320GB is great, 500GB might be excessive for my needs. Don’t need a SSD drive, and they cost too much anyway.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive? Yes. Blu-Ray drive would be nice, but a lack of at least a CDRW/DVD-ROM is a deal-breaker.
I made a slight error with my question post— regarding resolution, I prefer 1440-900 or 1680-1050.