For me, before I purchase a new computer, I inquired to those technical people who had a good experience in buying computer parts instead of buying a whole computer components like Dell, Gateway and HP. I made a further research on those reviews and feedback about the computer shops (by service quality) and peripherals. Then I'll buy those computer parts if I'm fully decided. If there's something wrong to any parts of CPU, ask for replacement in case.
If you're a gamer, you need a higher requirement of processor, memory and GPU that you need. Also, manage your budget seriously. Desktop computers will work on a much faster performance 3D gaming. Laptop is good enough for browsing only, that's what I think. i don't wanna use Vista for the meantime for some bug issues and I'll stick to Windows XP because of stable operation.