I've been using this laptop for the past 4 and a half years to give you an idea of what I currently have. I basically use it as a desktop in the sense that it never leaves my table unless I am going on a trip, just because it weighs 10 pounds.
My current setup is my 17 inch laptop with a 22 inch monitor hooked up with an hdmi cable. I would really like to do this with my new one, but I imagine all laptops have hdmi ports these days.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230103My current laptop is still fine, I am toying with the idea of what I want my next laptop to be used for. If I want it to just basically be a notebook used for school and web browsing or if I want it to be my replacement laptop and be used for the little gaming I do and other stuff.
With all of that being said, there are a few musts for this new laptop.
It must be lightweight. I am on the verge of going for my doctorate and I usually have 3-4 textbooks in my bag plus notebooks and I want to be able to carry this with it.
It must be able to stream video well. I watch a lot of lectures and other videos online and want this to be smooth.
Storage doesn't have to be too crazy, but I do want enough where I am able to download my lectures and documents needed for school, which really isn't a lot. Don't really care about pictures or music.
I have a pretty flexible budget and I wouldn't mind seeing a few options. I would love to see what I could get for 800-1000 dollars in terms of if I want a laptop that could game and stream video, but I am also curious what I could get in terms of a notebook for maybe 200-400 that can handle my schoolwork.
Basically whatever I get I want it to be lightweight, but I would love to see my options between a good notebook and a main laptop that is able to handle gaming.