I have known for a long time that a laptop will be a necessity for the life of a ryuugakusei in Japan, I just now got around to researching and buying one. I ordered direct a Dell Inspiron 8200 with a custom set of features, including the nicest screen they have, whilst simultaneously getting the cheapest video card. I'm just shallow that way. Anyway, It won't ship for another week. When it gets here, I will be handing my current rig over to my parents (they are subsidizing my laptop purchase for that reason) and going 100% mobile. It should be quite an adventure, I have been a desktop-only computer geek for at least twelve years.
Honestly though, I wish I had found another laptop that fit my needs as well as the Dell. Friggin' everyone has a Dell laptop, i wanted something different! But, the bottom line said that the Dell was everything I needed for the lowest price.