A few questions about nc8430's and newegg.

I have been doing a good lot of research today towards a new laptop. I will be using this laptop for school (Currently planning on majoring in software engineering). I admit though I am a gamer, I want the laptop to be able to run things like World of Warcraft, some RTS games, HL2/Source based games without issues. I don't need Oblivion to run max settings/resolution, I have a gaming desktop that can handle that kinda stuff.


I found this nc8430 on Newegg...
(picture gallery link)

I am a bit confused however about what the laptop looks like:

New Egg picture:


notebookreview.com picture from 9 months ago:


I am betting that the latter is what newegg meant; however, I really like the look of that first laptop, and there are a lot of HP gurus here so I curious as to what that laptop actually is. I don't really like the trackpoint thing, I probably wont use it as I do fine with the pad/external mouse and I can only foresee it getting in the way of typing.

Bottom Line:
1.) What model is the laptop in the first picture?
2.) Is the nc8430 a good choice for me(will be adding 1gb of ram)?
3.) What other products would you recommend that are similar in specs/price (hp or otherwise)?


Thanks
-deca

 

I bought my nc8430 from newegg.com and this is the one I bought http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147346