Solved! Having difficulties deciding which laptop is better

[MPExodus]

Im getting a new laptop and the max price i can spend is around $2000. I found these three laptops after a long time searching and i cant decide which is better. I will be using them for school work but i also play games a good amount, which is why im not looking at $300 laptops. Im just looking for a best guess, and please consider the price, I dont want to spend three hundred more if its only an incremental change. These are my choices:

1) Alienware 14 inch:
Cost: $1799 (after 15% discount)
CPU: i7 2760QM 2.4GHz
RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
Video Card: 3.0GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M
Hard Drive: 750GB at 7200 RPM

2) Alienware 18 inch:
Cost: $2069 (After 10% discount)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 2760QM 2.4GHz
RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
Video Card: 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M
Hard Drive: 750GB at 7200 RPM

3: MSI GT780DXR-200US
Cost: $1899
CPU: Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz
RAM: 16GB Memory DDR3 (doesnt say what frequency)
Video Card: 1.5 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M
Hard Drive: 1.5 TB at 7200 RPM

Thank you so much!!

 

[buzznut]

When Anandtech tested the HD 6990M chip, it wasn't the fastest. So, I agree that the msi seems like the best value, but these are very different laptops. The 14 inch will be more mobile and better battery life, the 18 inch is a desktop replacement and you'll hate dragging it around campus. I stopped taking my 15.6 inch a long time ago..
Its like you can't decide whether to be tethered to an outlet or not. I would take a hard look at what you really want out of this laptop.