Laptops are sketchy because the videocards are usually bottom of the line junk. Your laptop probably has great everything else, but the laptop is some crap integrated chip made for laptops, so it's three times as weak as a desktop integrated card, which is already rough for running any sort of games.
General rule nowadays is if you get a new PC of some sort and you don't really know anything about the specs, you will probably need to upgrade the videocard but nothing else.
integrated graphic cards are the worst
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http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ