Getting a laptop for graduation, any recommendations?

[manic_mopar]

Just graduated college and the rents are giving me around $1000 bucks for a laptop. I'm not looking for some hardcore Alienware gaming laptop but something that i can have fun with most games without breaking the bank. I've been configuring the dells of course and i'm kind of bored of their laptops (my fiancee and my mom have the inspirons). I was looking at the HP Pavilions w/ the Turion processors and the Core 2 Duo processors and really like the HP products. Any likes or dislikes on HP's laptop market? i have one configured right now that sits around $1200 +/-.

[JBag 05 SRT4]

I wouldn't do the HP. Friend of mine "has" one. I say "has" because it is currently at one of HPs repair centers for the forth time in the last two months. Seems to be having issues with the ram cooking itself and the screen not wanting to work all the time. And it does have the AMD processor you want. I have read some reviews online, and this seems to be a common problem. Thats why i recently purchased a Dell laptop. Inspiron 1720 with a 2Ghz Core2 Duo, 3gb ram, 230gb HDD,17 inch widescreen, Wi-Fi, and a 256mb GeForce 8600m GT graphics card. Took about 4 days to get it, and the total was $1,250. I would suggest looking at Dell again, unless you really dont like them.