jakooistra writes "I recently got my dream laptop: a Macbook Air. It had everything I needed, and its hardware design is solid. I know what I'm getting, and I know it's what I want, and the two line up perfectly.
Weeks later, my sister asks me for a laptop recommendation. I say "sure, what are techie brothers for!" and diligently start my search for her perfect laptop. Two days later, I feel like I've aged two years. Every laptop vendor seems to want to sell a dozen different poorly-differentiated models, with no real way of finding out what is customizable without following each model to its own customization page. And there are so many vendors! How am I, as a consumer, supposed to find what I need? Is there a website, hiding somewhere that I just can't find, that tracks all the multivariate versions and upgrade choices in an easily searchable database?
Failing that, I'd like to crowdsource finding the following laptop:
-Good CPU, almost don't care about GPU (HD 3000 graphics are acceptable)
-SSD HD (or at least hybrid cache)
-Cool running (no leg-burning, in fact integrated graphics might be preferable)
-15" or 17" screen
-1366x768 is acceptable if all else fails, but I'd prefer 1440x900 or more, especially on a 17"
-Optical drive (not external)
-Under $2000, nominally $1500"
