Recommendations for a new Laptop

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping someone can give me some recommendations for a new laptop. My 1.5 year old HP Pavilion decided to die, and I'm tired of trying to fix it. Time for something better anyway.

What I know I'm looking for:

Dedicated Graphics card (preferably Nvidia) with 512 or better ram
4GB RAM or better
300GB HD or better
16"+ screen size
Windows 7
Reliable brand (bah on HP!)

Everything else is negotiable to me in what comes on the laptop.

I can probably spend up to $1200 without my husband killing me, but $1000 or under would be better.

My old laptop could not run *any* of the Ultra mode settings, so it would be pretty cool if this will run at least some of them.

Any help is appreciated! I've been doing some research, but the sheer amount of variety is a bit overwhelming, and I haven't really been keeping up on computer specs and what is better.

I've always had good luck with Asus and they have several machines that meet your specs in the $1,000 price range. I've 3 Asus laptops I use in my business and they've been very satisfactory. Even the bargain machines in the ~$450 range seem to be rock solid; I bought one last year that runs COH (non-UM) just fine for under $500.

I just got my new Alienware M11X yesterday... I wanted a small, lightweight computer with a lot of power. I got an i7 CPU, Nvidia 335 GPU and 4GB RAM in a 4lb package for ~$1,200... it has an 11.8" screen though. I just got tired of lugging 11lbs of laptop and 4lbs of power supply from motel to worksite. I haven't had a chance to fire up COH on it yet, but it ought to handle mid-range Ultra Mode; the GPU is more powerful than my old laptop and has a lower resolution screen to push.