I was going to post in the thread listed in the sticky but thats a 2+ year old thread with the last post 3+ months ago so if needed please move this to that thread if it still warrants it.

I am looking for a new laptop because my old one's fan broke and will power off after 10 minutes from overheating. Its borderline 6 years old so I could buy a cooling pad for it and try to extend its life another year but I think my best bet is going for a new one.

I don't need the top-of-the-line laptop but I want it capable of running FFXI well and maybe some other games but they don't have to be in ultra graphics at 200 fps. Don't really need a lot of HD space but enough so that a game or 2 wont take 50% of it since I don't have full movies or entire TV/Anime series on a HD I keep them on CD's and external HD. Decent size screen and battery life.

Also I hear a lot of back and fourth between brands like dell is shit ect ect but want to know your opinion on the matter. I had a Dell desktop and loved it with the warranty which came with free support.

Also if possible I want to spend under $800 and leaning closer to 500 which is doable since I am not looking for a top end laptop.

I was hoping that you guys might have a few suggestions or comments to help me pick out one.