It is not a high-end notebook construction-wise, but I have had very good luck with a Toshiba S70 with a full-hd screen. $499 on woot and it has a 17.3" screen, i7, a second sata bay and 2 open DIMM sockets. Battery life is good and it uses a common power adapter. It has reasonable internal speakers (better than average, not a gamer machine). Mint 17 runs like a clock and all hardware is supported by a standard install.
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It is not a high-end notebook construction-wise, but I have had very good luck with a Toshiba S70 with a full-hd screen. $499 on woot and it has a 17.3" screen, i7, a second sata bay and 2 open DIMM sockets. Battery life is good and it uses a common power adapter. It has reasonable internal speakers (better than average, not a gamer machine). Mint 17 runs like a clock and all hardware is supported by a standard install.
I wouldn't want to drop it though...