purchasing laptop, but which?

[Sir]

OK, here's the situation:
I have worked out a deal with a friend and will be selling my PC and peripherals for $1600 (it's quite the rig). In addition, I sold my air intake and carbon fiber hood a few weeks ago and got $650 for the two of them. This leaves me with...let me get a number crunch real quick...2,250 USD (don't need to spend it all on the laptop, some tic tacs would always be a nice addition to my life). I will only buy Dell or Alienware, for what I consider fairly obvious reasons. After using PCs exclusively for the past few years, I need this to pack a punch, but I hate buying pre-assembled computers because they always put components (edited AGAIN by admin) in there. I couldn't care less if there is a 3.8Ghz CPU in there if it's using 512 MB SHARED SDRAM. I need all high-quality parts (not necessarily THE NEWEST technology, but second gen. at the worst). Secondly, I don't want this to look like a laptop from 1995, which was a work out just to pick up.

Summary:
- pretty much Dell, unless there is a great Alienware deal out there that I'm unaware of
- powerful
- doesn't have to be really light + thin, but as much "sex appeal" as possible.

I just need some recommendations on the actual laptop to buy, I'll look around more for all the deals (but if you know of some good ones, I'd be happy to hear 'em).

Thanks in advance guys...and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS!

[glc]

1. Please don't use vulgar language here, masked by the censor or not.

2. You can get a Dell cheaper than an Alienware. Look at the Inspiron 9300, but it's kinda big - 17 inch widescreen.

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1a. Your re-edit of my edit was totally unacceptable. Please refer to forum rule 7, this is your one and only official warning.

[thefultonhow]

I second the Inspiron 9300 recommendation, and you should also consider the Inspiron XPS M170, which is essentially a flashier 9300 with a better graphics card. If you're looking for something smaller (15.4" widescreen), the best graphics card you'll be able to get would be the X700. In that case, I'd recommend the Sager NP5320 or the Acer Ferarri (of those two, I'd take the NP5320).

[glc]

I saw the M170, but it starts at $2699. Are there any coupons out there for it?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc I saw the M170, but it starts at $2699. Are there any coupons out there for it?

Check this page out:

http://www.xpbargains.com/dell_coupons/

Right now they only have a $500 off coupon, and I'm not sure if it works with the XPS line, but they have recently been having 30% off coupons.