Well after way to much agonizing and a ton of reading it's done.I ended up going with HP, they have way more machine then any of the other companies I was looking at for 1/2 to 3/4 the price
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Below is what I ended up with. Probably more then I will need but if I get addicted to gaming I'll have a kick ass machine.
Thanks for all the help both on this thread and all of the other ones in this forum
HP Pavilion dv9700t customizable Notebook PC
Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.50GHz)
17.0" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1680 x 1050)
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
FREE Upgrade to HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Microphone
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection
240GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (120GB x 2)
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
HP ExpressCard Digital/Analog TV Tuner
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Norton Internet Security(TM) 2008 - 3 Year Subscription
Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope