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FYI Dell has a 20-25% off outlet sale going on all home laptops so I snapped up the following for my gf with the 640M + blu ray. There's also a $50 off coupon floating around that stacks with it so you can save even a little more. I realized this after I had already purchased it so it's a bit too late XPS 15 Known Issues Newest bios causes GPU throttling in favor of CPU speed. Old bios does the opposite. Wireless signal is weak with these systems. Hoping @svl7 and @Prema will be able to help with some bios modding to get rid of the throttling. Service Manual ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_xps_laptop/xps-15-l521x_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf Videos http://youtu.be/eaorXn27D_U

So my gf needs a new notebook with the following requirements: +14-15.6" form factor no thicker than 1.3" +High quality build (e.g. magnesium/aluminum) +Discrete GPU (e.g. nvidia 650M) +Intel CPU (no UV) +Quality display at 1080P (min 250 nit with 600:1 contrast ratio) +At home warranty service +Reasonably priced from $900-$1500 Finally, it can't be really flashy or ugly. To give you an idea, I think almost every single MSI laptop out there is ugly. She likes Alienware but I think for her its far too flashy and bulky. So that leaves HP Envy, Some Asus notebooks, Lenovo Y500/Y580, Dell XPS 15, Dell Precision M4700 and a few others. We prefer not to have to deal with 3rd party dealers and would instead prefer buying directly from the manufacturer. Here is what I've narrowed down so far: Dell XPS 15 +Gorilla Glass +1080P 350 nit +Aluminum + Silicone build +Discrete graphics (though weak) +Very good form factor (comparable to MBP) +Good keyboard + trackpad +Dell warranty -Price is high -Graphics is weak -Only 1 year standard warranty Lenovo Y500 +15.6" 1080P display +650M graphics (expandable to SLI) +3 years accidental + in home warranty for only $120 +Nice thin form factor +Backlit red keys +Not a flashy design, looks decent but not as nice as the XPS 15 -Trackpad issues -Keyboard issues -Lacks eSata, firewire and displayport -No optimus support thus weak battery life Dell Precision M4700 +High quality build and nice form factor + design +3 year standard warranty +Discrete GPU (AMD/NVIDIA professional grade cards equivalent to 650M in performance) +1080P 15.6" display +Docking Port +Display Port, Firewire etc. +Quality keyboard -IPS no longer available due to corner tint issues with the LG panel -Graphics card are professional grade which is overkill for our use and cannot use consumer drivers -Price is $300-$400 higher than Lenovo Y500 Asus N56VZ +1080P 15.6" wide angle +Beautiful design + form factor +Nice keyboard + backlit +Reasonable price +Discrete graphics (650M) +6 hour battery life -Trackpad clickpad not so great -Warranty isn't as good as others listed here -Odd connector placement -Lack of ports (e.g. esata, displayport etc though not very high on our list) Do you guys have any other suggestions?