If only I could put together a desktop, which is what I'm looking at now since laptops seem to be a bad spot across the board right now from what I've read. I've looked into ibuypower, which seems to have mixed reviews and digital storm, but their up sale on having an i7 is an auto no go for me.
I had my desktop custom built by CyberPowerPC and am very happy with it. I started with one of ~$1500 packages and tweaked everything, including case, PSU, cooler, and GPU. All in all I ended up at around $2,000. I'm pretty sure they still offer builds based off the i5, if that's what you're looking for.
If you do with a custom build, just make sure you stay away from any of their pre-built "off the shelf" systems. That's where people end up with problems, since most of the parts are generic and thrown together. If you customize and pick all name-brand components you should have much better luck. My system was packed well, shipped well, and very nicely put together. All wiring was well done and neatly secured.
I'll never get a laptop. My b/f has one and I can't stand it. It gets hot and needs a special cooling pad, which is louder than my desktop when he's gaming. The screen is too small. The keyboard is difficult to use. Not for me. I like my 27" screen. If I want to game in the living room, I just flip a button and my desktop is there on the TV. If I need to use a computer for browsing while remaining mobile I'll just use my tablet. Yeah, I don't like laptops - at all. You can't change components or clean them with ease. My desktop case has cleanable screens to help mitigate dust/hair getting in. If I need a new component I can just open it up and swap it out. Soooo much easier to maintain.