Please help to buy my first notebook

[gnnbtrn]

I am looking for my first notebook.

I never owned one, but I used some DELL notebooks at work, and had my friend's HP for a short time.

The reason why I need notebook, is that I have too many students at home, and someone needs computer all the time. I would think about another PC, but I also would like to take a laptop outside and work with it somewhere else.

I'd like to have a good screen and power to be able comfortably develop my RAW files in Lightroom, do some Photoshop etc.

The size doesn't really matter. The bigger the better, I guess.
Battery life is not an issue either.
It has to be strong. The Dell I have used had a problem with hinges.
I believe I don't want Sony VAIO, it looks more expensive.

What processor do I have to look at?

RAM 4Gb seems to be ok for now, but I should be able upgrade it in a year or so, when the prices will go down.

HD size doesn't really matter, my RAW files will be stored on laptop temporarily.

Does blue-ray will increase the price a lot?

Card reader is nice, but not a necessity.

Please, point at what should I look.
Any advise is really appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[IlllI]

can't really help w/o a price range

 

[gnnbtrn]

My budget is $1,000

 

[Rottie]

Try HP dv7 costs less than 700 it has 17 inches and 3gb memory ati card not sure about HD size it is cheap you can afford.

 

[bmcassagne]

I do a lot of Photoshop work and I have to say screen resolution is the most important thing for me. Even with a 1920x1200 screen on my Alienware there is never enough detail. Complex scenes like a hillside with a lot of trees wind up looking softer than they really are. It looks like the picture is out of focus but if I sit back a little it looks a lot better. Anything over 15.4" should be good unless you have bad eyes.

3GB of ram should be enough if you're not multitasking much. It's usually really cheap to go up to 4GB.

I like lots of storage space because RAW files are big and I like to keep all my originals, but I just use an external 3.5TB drive that cost me about $350.

Faster processor helps a lot, especially using anything over about 8 megapixel, but is very helpful with RAW in general. Photoshop uses multiple cores really well so quad core would be good if you can afford it.

I just ordered me a HP HDX18t. They have a great coupon code for it right now for $550 off with blu-ray and 1920x1080 screen. 18.4" screen is pretty big, but under 9 lbs. You should be able to get one for right around $1000 on HP.com, depending on what options you pick. They have really similar prices on the 16" HDX16t I think it is. I found some good deals on the Sony Viao too on google shopping. I was looking for blu-ray computers mostly.