New Laptop advice

Ok...I know desktop would be better and better for future upgrade but due to the size of my place (no real place for a tower large or small)and some travel reasons this fits my needs. mostly for gaming and a little bit of work.....

I have about $1500 give or take a $100. I seem to be leaning toward Asus and MSI. the MSI seems to be a better value. Looking for something that will last a while. I am leaning towards the 15.6" screen MSI one from Newegg. I dont know if I would notice a difference between 15.6" and 17.3" in regards to the screen.

Here are some links:

ASUS -
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...y=REVIEWS#tabs

MSI:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152268

smaller screen better graphics card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152266

http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt780r012us-p-3059.html

Any thoughts besides dont buy a gaming laptop Any really good deals anyone has come across recently? Any companies I should stay away from that are on that list or in general (I know this is subjective).

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas!

Cheers.

The difference is noticeable, but IMO 17'' screens and up are for desktop replacements, not very handy to carry around.

This one is the bee's knee's for desktop replacement: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7282-...00-p-2881.html (edit: forget it, it's beyond your budget)

I ended up buying a new Mac but I was almost getting this one (15.6 inch) - http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150-...hm-p-2972.html

This one has a less powerful GPU but longer battery life for travels because it has the Optimus tech that allows it to switch with the integrated Intel GPU http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5165-...hr-p-3063.html

(I'm a fan of Sager because they look like normal business laptops despite being gaming ones, I mean I wouldn't want to take one of these alienware glowing things to a meeting, plus they're smaller than normal gaming laptops - the price you pay is not having good speakers but if you see notebook forums - look for 'sager owner's lounge' on google - people are very satisfied with them)

Heh...I wish I could get that 1st one. Thank you for your input! I have added that to my list. Still deciding......

I second the suggestion for a Sager, I've had a workstation class one for close to 4 years now that's been nearly bulletproof. Drop it, toss it into the luggage compartment of a plane, drag it around the country for 4 years and it's still in perfect working condition. Even today it's adequate for moderate Ultra Mode COH with a 17" 1680x1024 screen. The one thing it isn't is light... 12 lbs for the computer plus a 4 lb power supply. On the other hand a 7950 GTX video card (for it's time a top performer), Core2Duo CPU and three hard drives made for a great portable workstation. It did cost me ~$2,200 when I bought it, and I've tossed in 2 additional drives and replaced the original with an SSD.

A good place to look for a high end laptop ($1,000+) is www.powernotebooks.com; that's where I bought my Sager and you can order a machine configured precisely to your specifications with whatever OS you like or even with no OS installed. Everything they sell is top quality and their service is great. As an added bonus you don't have to remove bloatware that most manufacturers love to stuff onto every machine sold.

Thanks for the site. Will take a look.