Sparkie wrote:I'm thinking about dumping my desktop pc and moving over to a laptop. I'd like to hear pros and cons from you laptop users, as well as suggestions as to which laptop I should consider purchasing.
What is required:
Under $1000
PC
The ability to add an external monitor.
Good sound quality for music/movies.
Minimum 15.4" screen size (prefer 17").
Enough guts to handle Win 7 properly.
A 64 bit CPU.
Any and all input is appreciated.

Checkout
http://www.xoticpc.com/
I bought my first Sager Desktop replacement from them and have been thoroughly satisfied with Xoticpc's service and their Sager and Asus systems.
I currently own a Sager NP5797 built on a Clevo M570TU motherboard, but paid $4,000 USD for it. It has 4GB DDR3 RAM, 3.6 MGz Dual Core Intel processor, and 1TB 10,000 RPM hard drive; it's fast as heck.
You can look at the 17" Sager NP775U built on the Clevo M775U motherboard for under $800 USD and go up from there depending on what you want. You select the laptop you want and put it together with the stuff you want in it (i.e., screen resolution, memory, CPU, hard drives, etc.).
These laptops (desktop replacements) are hefty though. Mine weighs in at 8.5 lbs. Needless to say, I don't lug it around much.
By the way, there are only a handful of actual laptop manufacturers in the world. IBM, HP, Dell, and so forth don't make their own laptops. You order through these companies and then one of the laptop ODMs assembles and ships a barebones system to IBM/Dell/HP/etc. and they put in the processesor and ship it to you. Places like Velocity Micro and Xoticpc; however, do put most of their laptops together using top-of-the-line components based on your order.
Check out this article on where all laptops are made:
http://www.xoticpc.com/laptop-manufactu ... ip-11.html
Good luck
Logman