Help picking a laptop

[Mollrow]

I'm looking to get a laptop and I honestly don't know enough about them (hardware/money) to make an intelligent decision. So I'd like some more of the laptop savvy people of RMRK to help me out.

The primary use of the laptop is going to be programming on the go. I'd like to have at least a dual core processor with a decent clock speed (above the 1.6 GHz min for win 7). An okay graphics card would be good (not great but supports Aero and stuff. Doesn't have to be a dedicated card). I'm willing to spend around $600.

Thank you

[Cascading Dragon]

Any reason why you are programming on Win7?

[ahref]

Any reason why you are programming on Win7?

Whats wrong with that?

[Cascading Dragon]

Any reason why you are programming on Win7?

Whats wrong with that?

Nothing if you are using C# or anything that is solely Microshafts property. Else, Linux is a much better OS for development.

[Cascading Dragon]

C# isn't just available on Windows. There are plenty of C# IDE's for Linux. Stop acting like Linux is the best thing in the world for programming. But if by programming you mean "Programming with Python xD" then yeah, Linux all the way.

I haven't seen more then 2 C# IDEs but I don't activitly look.
And Linux is one of the best things in the world for programming.
I happen to like Python also.

[Irock]

I'd personally go with XP on a laptop with substandard specs, based on the performance I've seen with Windows 7 after some use.

[Ruzu]

Looking through here and thinking, its better not to just make a new thread I decide I'll just use this one to.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Zombie except I want a Laptop that can work RPG maker (duh), and play really demanding games such as Halo, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights, Guild Wars etc, and do my college work.

Any ideas? Alienware looks nice but I keep hearing rumors dell products break easily.