Buying a new laptop soon...

[AnyOldName3]

Just in case you hadn't realised, a $1000 desktop will be more than enough for every game currently playable in Dolphin, so you have the option of buying a desktop for emulation/gaming, as well as a laptop for portability (eg if you only need a laptop to do work/school/college and won't game much on it). This'll be cheaper if you don't absolutely need it to be a laptop. You'd probably want to be plugged in anyway for Dolphin, so it's not a huge loss in portability.