I bought a Dell Vostro 1710, and I'm really happy with it's value... except that I got caught in the whole nVidia graphics "weak die" situation.

If I would be buying a new laptop today, I would go for a Dell Studio 17. I think you might be able to get one without extras in your budget. However, I think that the 1920x1200 screen upgrade and the discrete graphics are nice to have...