Help choosing a laptop

[aquaforever]

My parents are going to buy me laptop for college and I am allowed to pick one out. I'm assuming it can't be too expensive. I'm probably going to give them 2 options, one I really want and one that is definitely cheap enough to fit their budget

Here is what I am looking for:
Size: Probably 14.1" maybe something bigger
Weight: Pretty lightweight, something easily carried to class
Graphics Card: Pretty decent, something able to handle some gaming
RAM: 2-3 GB
Hard Drive Space: Either a lot of space or an external hard drive
Operating System: Windows XP or 7? I don't really know which is better
Budget: $1200? Kind of iffy

If it would be cheaper to buy a system without these requirements and install something myself I would be willing to do that. My uncle is pretty good with computers and if I couldn't figure it out I'm sure my uncle knows how to do it. My dad is also an engineer if that helps

I'm really interested in building laptops. If I could learn how to build, I would be interested in doing that instead.

One laptop i was looking at is the15" Battalion CZ-9 Notebook from ibuypower.com

[shozzking]

go in to your nearest best buy and look around. my best buy has better laptops than that for nearly the same price

[Gamputer]

That laptop from iBuyPower is good, but also try out Cyberpower PC laptops or Sager Notebooks.

[shozzking]

that laptop from ibuypower is overpriced, theres a sony laptop at my best buy with a 15.6" screen, a core 2 duo 2.2 GHz processor, 4GB's of RAM and a 500gb hard drive for $150 more(this is in canada).

[BK_123]

what kind of laptop are you looking for and what will use it for?

[Jake009]

Buddy I would recommend to buy something which you have a brief knowledge about. I would prefer reading a review on Asus Eee PC 1005HA

Try it its on your choice totally..