Cheech Bode

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9700M-GTS.9899.0.html shows the GPU on that ASUS coming in at 13,125 in the 3DMark 05 benchmark. The ATI 5650 I mentioned in my post to the OP below comes in at 13,179. I'd say that Asus would handle SL pretty well.

Your biggest challenge here will be wading through the various numbers that ATI and Nvidia have cranked out for mobile GPU chipsets. Forget about anything that is Intel, even the new "HD" stuff with the core i3/i5s. They just won't give you what you need for SL. An older CPU (Core 2 Duo, etc) will be fine, as long as that GPU can handle the load, and you have enough RAM both for the system and the graphics. I can't speak for that price, but we just paid 799 for a Gateway NV59. With its Core i5 and ATI 5650, it runs SL rather well in Low, and nicely in High, and depending on where, in Ultra. The ATI 5650 is the key here. With its 1GB of video ram, and high benchmark scores, this laptop, to me, was a bargain for the price. After using it on SL now for a few days, I can say we are very happy with it. Using the emerald viewer, by the way. Do your research on the GPU! I can't stress this enough. I used http://www.notebookcheck.net/ as my primary site for wading through the marketing of the GPU Chip vendors, and getting actual numbers so I could decide if a given laptop was worth the price. Looking down the road towards the future, if you can get a chip that has native DirectX 11 support, I suspect you'll be a lot happier. Good luck!