Large, stay-at-home laptop with a nice screen for movies

[Hungry Man]

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
Preferably 600-700, staying under 1k (after tax/shipping/warranty)

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: Lenovo (I get a good deal with Lenovo)
b. Dislike: HP

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Watching movies, going online, streaming netflix in HD.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
It will rarely leave the house.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
No.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Not many.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
I'd prefer to see it but it's no big deal.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Doesn't matter, I'll be installing Windows 7 to it.

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. Click here for Screen resolution information.
I would really like an HD screen. 720p minimum, I'd settle for 900p but 1080 is ideal.

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
No preference

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No

15) When are you buying this laptop?
ASAP

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
As long as possible. It doesn't need to do anything, ever, except play movies though.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
No SSD. 300~GB min.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
Whatever the standard reader is should be fine. BluRay shouldn't be necessary unless it's not a big price bump.

[pepper_john]

Thinkpad W520

[Hungry Man]

That's way way way more powerful than what I need and it's 200+ over budget.

[BlackSabs]

ASUS K73SV-DH51

$849 W/ BluRay player
$799 W/ CD/DVD

2 year Warranty/ 1 year accidental damage protection

[kevmanw4301]

I know you said no HP, but if you changed your mind, the HP DV7t really is a wonderful machine, with a good bit of power, ecpecially with the 6770M.

This is also an option:

Acer Aspire AS7750G-6645 NX.RVHAA.002 Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, AMD Radeon HD 7670M, 17.3 Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

Also, going to play devil's advocate. If you're looking for a stationary laptop, why not just get a desktop instead? For the $600-700 budget you have, your could build a nice desktop with an i3-2100 or 2500k and a nice dGPU like a 7770 or 7850. Grab a large 1080p monitor and it's great for movie viewing and surfing.

[Hungry Man]

I've never had a good experience with an HP. The last HP I had pretty much broke in every conceivable way.

Laptop is a must. It needs to be able to move around the house.

[edit1754]

Despite your dispreference for HP, if you actually want a decent screen then basically your only option out of two is the HP DV6z.

HP Official Store — Buy and Customize your dv6 and dv6t series PC direct from HP + coupon code 25LOGICBUY

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Or you could get a Dell Latitude E5520 with everything stock except for the 1920x1080 display upgrade, then upgrade the memory yourself.

Latitude E5520 ? Affordable, Mobile 15-inch Business Laptop | Dell

[kevmanw4301]

When was the last HP you had? They have gotten better more recently. The DV7t I had was flawless and was a great machine.

Dell Outlet would be a good place to look. If a coupon code comes up, you could get an XPS 15 or 17 with a gorgeous 1080p screen that would be great for movies. (There's an XPS 15 with a B+RGBLED 1080p screen on the outlet for $709 right now, haven't checked for coupons.)

The Vostro 3750 yould be a cheap option on the outlet. There are several under $500 on the outlet right now.

[Hungry Man]

It's actually just broken entirely this morning.

It was a DV6700 I believe. Overheated a ton, the battery was really crappy, hard drive died, various other issues not worth going into.

This is not the only time this has happened. Many computers taht I've fixed up have been HPs, I've rarely ever heard good things about them.

edit: I won't count them out entirely, just understand that I've never actually had a good experience witht hem and have had many poor ones.

I'll have a look at the dell/ HP.

[pepper_john]

That's way way way more powerful than what I need and it's 200+ over budget.

How about Thinkpad E530? I know many will say it is too entry-level but I have an E420 (and love it) and couldn't help recommending it.

ThinkPad Edge E530 - stylish small business laptop (US)