I need you experts to chime in here. My laptop fried and it happens every two years or so.

Here's what I need:
Best bang for the buck on a laptop or desktop for a recording system. I will use it for recording using either Abelton or Pro Tools.
I will up load video and Youtube.
I will use I Tunes
I will facebook.
I want a word processing software. But I won't crunch tons of documents.
I don't play games on it other than on line Words with friends on facebook. lol

I want to hear about what sound cards and graphic cards work. I need firewire and I want HDMI.
Should it have audio RCA left and right outputs and a video output?
I have used my laptop on the road and used it live in church. So I am mostly interested in laptop portability.
Mike