On the hunt (soonish) for a laptop - gaming (1-2K)

[erroneousm]

[edited down]

Dear magic forum,

I could use some advice. I have been looking at laptops over the last 1-2 months, and while I have learned a lot, I have also learned that it seems unlikely that I am could use more knowledgeable guidance.

In a nutshell: I would "like" to get it sooner rather than later, should some significant Black Friday-ish deal present itself, great, if not, then there is no crazy amount of urgency.

This laptop would need to serve as an effective desktop replacement for, say, 2-3 years (ideally).


Nuts & Bolts---

Weight:
the less the better
6-8ish lbs = target range

Style:
I like pretty things. I prefer a modern and sleek look when possible, but it isn't a deal breaker.

Oddities:
Need good keyboard ergonomics. I do an obscene amount of data/word processing.

Performance:
capable of running modern AAA gaming titles (take Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Bf 3 as benchmarks) at High or better, and will continue to be decently capable of running new titles (within reason) over the next 2-3 years.

Budget:
I would like to keep cost as close to $1,000 (US) as possible, but that is a soft ceiling that gets increasingly harder as the price nears $2,000.

preferred resolution-- 1900 x 1080
battery life -- not crucial, will be plugged almost without exception
Country -- US

Size:
15.6" (When not traveling I will use an external monitor)

If I could go smaller than 15.6 with similar functionality I would, but 15.6 seems to be the line for higher powered GPUs. What I don't know and would like to learn is whether this has generated heat problems, especially catastrophic heat problems.

Usage by importance:
gaming/general multitasking, light programming, web browsing (rabid), media (general).

***

I was looking at a couple of the ASUS RoG laptops, the G46VW / G53SW (portability –power) and the G55VW (though I don't really see what I get for the increased weight) and they seem fair, but I am worried about the longevity of the 660.

The following DS build is my current leading candidate but seems both over-powered and over-priced than it really needs to be.

Chasis: x15e (sager model 9150)
Processor: i7 3630QM (2.4 GHz/ 3.4GHz)
Memory: 12GB DDR3 1600MHz (3x4)
Pri HD: Intel 520 series (180 GB) SSD (I will use an external HD for bulk data storage)
Wireless: Bigfoot Killer N 1202
Vid Card: 670MX / [or] GTX 675MX / [or] Radeon 7970M

**any info/tips on heat use for the above DS spec would be especially welcome!

***I had been leery about going all in with the SSD drives, but the stability seems to have improved such that I am more comfortable with it. Is this misguided?


Anyway, I would really appreciate any and all advice I can get. Thanks very much in advance!

 

[unksol]

I am not gonna lie. That is a RIDICULOUS wall of text. From my skimming you are all over on weight, price, performance, style, and by huge margins.

I am just gonna throw this out there but this is the cheapest you will find a 7979m, and trinity is plenty of power. Supposed to go for $1300. Not reviewing, recommending, going through everything you want line by line, etc. you can do your research. Just letting you know it exists and seems pretty decent

Http/msi.com/product/nb/GX60.html

 

[erroneousm]

Thanks very much! I will look more closely at the MSI systems. I apologize for the explosion of text, I was trying to cover as many bases and give as much information as I could.

 

[Labrynthian]

You should look at the Asus G55VW. It has everything you need and is a really good laptop. It's higher version is the G75VW. That's around $200 more, but it's well within your price range as well. The main difference between the two is that one is a 15.6 inch screen, the other is a 17.3 inch screen. Then the G75 has a large 16GB RAM and a NVIDIA GTX 670M card, while the G55 has 8GB RAM and a 660M card.
Both are very good laptops. I have the G55 and can vouch for it

Here is the link for the G55

http/www.amazon.com/G55VW-ES71-15-6-Inch-Gaming-Notebook-Black/dp/B007Z9WWDW

Here is the link for the G75, Republic of Gamers Edition

http/www.amazon.com/Republic-Gamers-G75VW-AS71-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B007MW73C2

Here is the higher version of the G75

http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-17-3-16GB-750GB-Bundle/dp/B007ZCSGAW

Hope I helped

 

[Labrynthian]

You should look at the Asus G55VW. It has everything you need and is a really good laptop. It's higher version is the G75VW. That's around $200 more, but it's well within your price range as well. The main difference between the two is that one is a 15.6 inch screen, the other is a 17.3 inch screen. Then the G75 has a large 16GB RAM and a NVIDIA GTX 670M card, while the G55 has 8GB RAM and a 660M card.
Both are very good laptops. I have the G55 and can vouch for it

Here is the link for the G55

http/www.amazon.com/G55VW-ES71-15-6-Inch-Gaming-Notebook-Black/dp/B007Z9WWDW

Here is the link for the G75, Republic of Gamers Edition

http/www.amazon.com/Republic-Gamers-G75VW-AS71-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B007MW73C2

Here is the higher version of the G75

http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-17-3-16GB-750GB-Bundle/dp/B007ZCSGAW

Hope I helped

 

[erroneousm]

Thanks very much Labrynthian! I had been looking at the G55s. I will take another look! Can you give me a sense of how the G55 is for heat?

 

[Labrynthian]

It handles just fine. I've had no problems so far. Although mine is quite new. However I did spend over an hour talking to them about this. It's got a fairly advanced cooling system and based on all the research I did before buying it, I didn't seem to find many complaints about heat. In any case, when you start facing heating issues, just get a standard cooling pad and you're set. You'd be hard-pressed to find a laptop these days that DOESN'T heat up after hours of use, especially when gaming. Anyway it's default cooling system is really good.

 

[Labrynthian]

Black Fridays around the corner. You'll get an insane price if you find a G55