In most cases, the only things you can change out in a laptop are the RAM, the Hard Drive, and the optical drive. What can be put in is determined by the Motherboard and it's BIOS. I have been using a laptop exclusively since 2006, even for gaming ,and I have done pretty well. Both of the ones I used are listed in my signature. If you are considering buying a new laptop that will be used for gaming and don't want to pay too much, I would strongly recommend an HP like the first one in my sig. The AMD APU's are currently the most affordable solutions and certainly the best bang for the buck in gaming performance. I also suggest HP because their laptops are very rugged, durable, and reasonably priced. I have had no problems with either one of mine and only paid $599 at Staples for the newer one a year ago. Another plus is that updated video drivers from AMD can be installed without problems unlike some other manufacturers like Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic who have specifically requested that their laptops be excluded from AMD driver support. You can only use the drivers those makers provide which are modified to work with their hardware and BIOS setups. It is possible sometimes to find third party modded drivers but those don't always work either. If you do choose to buy a new machine, make sure that Intel graphics are not all it has since even the latest versions are not up to par with the integrated graphics in an AMD APU. Mine plays WoW, LOTRO, Rage, Skyrim, DiRT3, Dead Island, Diablo 3, and everything else I have thrown at it with very good performance. There are now laptops with the next generation AMD trinity APU's that perform even better.
