Dolphin allows you to set higher resolutions to render at. For example, the Wii can only output 480p to higher resolution displays and as as result you get some pretty nasty graphics. With Dolphin, you can set the graphics output to your monitor's native resolution(as well as anti-alias and other postprocessing as well).
Last time I checked, many laptops were still around the 720p display resolution unless you buy a custom built one with that option or pay for a more expensive model. Not to mention working with the absolute low end of graphics and a decent CPU is poor for emulation even if they're able to do some PC gaming.
And it seems that the OP is willing to pay up to a $1200 from the choices?
For reference, my friend could play Zelda SS at 1080p(probably no AA) with a quad core i5 (second gen) with 4? GB of RAM and a Radeon 5850 at 30fps(though the game was capped at that I believe). Maybe a bit of stuttering here and there, but I'm not entirely sure. I can play Kirby Back to Dreamland at 720p with some AA with a Core i3-530 (first gen) overclocked with 8 GB of RAM and a Radeon 5750 OCed as well at pretty good framerate as well.
So Rydian's two suggestions are likely to be suitable to use for emulation although the second one has weaker graphics than even my own computer, but it does have a better processor. Both don't have Blu-Ray though.
Edit:
This one is similar to Rydian's first suggestion but has a BD combo drive for about 60 more, so it goes over 1000 after shipping:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16883229271
Of course, you could just add in your own BD drive. The cheapest reader on Newegg is still 60 though.
First post in like, 6 months...
