Laptops Similar to XPS 15 (L502X)?

I went through several iterations of searching: mobile, medium sized and gaming laptops.



I crossed out gaming laptops as they were too heavy with their giant PSU's.



I looked at Thinkpad X1 which is very expensive for its hardware, then Thinkpad X220, a little cheaper but is kinda too small for me. Both of those options can't handle graphics really well, aka 3D modelling.



I then checked out the Thinkpads T420s/T520s, I was willing to sacrifice graphics for their durability and good given history, however at their full discount the base model, with mediocre specs, can't even compare to the next laptop I looked at.



Then I looked into medium sized, and saw Dell's XPS 15 models. Their base price is $700 which is very good considering it comes with Nvidia GT 525M which should be able to do a decent amount of 3D processing (not gaming tho), also comes with good amount of ram, HD, and i5 CPU.



The thing with XPS is, it's kinda large to carry to classes, imo. I would like to be able to carry it to classes, program and do all that kind of stuff. (I'd also like to upgrade it to a 1080p screen and possibly get a custom lid)



I currently own a bulky old Dell Inspiron 1501, and that's pretty much the borderline of size, even then it's a little heavy to carry it in my backpack.



Are there any laptops that can compete with pricing of XPS 15 given its performance and stuff?



Btw, HP Envy 14 starts at $1000 price point with similar specs, so that's kinda expensive for me.

I am willing to pay $750 - 900.



Thanks in advance!Laptops Similar to XPS 15 (L502X)?
The Asus N53SV-XE1 is a solid computer, especially for the price. I was surprised at how much a difference the new i7 made in performance compared to my old laptop's Core 2 Duo. When it overclocks, prepare to be surprised at how much this baby can do. The graphics card has handled everything I have thrown at it so far. Battery life is reasonable, I got three and a half hours when I put it in battery saving mode. Even with the processor underclocked in these settings, it is still extremely fast and can handle virus scans, email, and web surfing in short order. The screen makes HD videos and games look awesome, too.