ASUS G74 Series G74SX-BBK9 Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory 1TB HDD DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

Pros: We own two of these - my wife uses hers at work for when she runs queries on very large data sets and I use mine for gaming and PhD thesis research. This thing has lots of power...enough to run games like Guild Wars 2, Fallout New Vegas with 20+ mods, or Civ 5 with largest map comfortably. Keyboard is large and pretty well thought out. Lots of USB ports. Screen is really nice.

Cons: Drains battery within an hour...its not really meant to be a "laptop" in a "I want to do work on my 2 hour train commute" sense. Also, it might not be obvious from the spec sheet, but this thing uses more power than is available in a typical car outlet (100W Max) so you will NOT be able to sit in the passenger's seat of a car and use this laptop.

The preloaded Asus software is terrible - it seems to slowdown the computer more than most of my games.

The touchpad leave a little to be desired...it just doesn't feel right, although it doesn't bother me since I use a trackball anyway.

Pros: Pros? SPECS. This thing is a portable desktop, with an i7, nVidia 560m, and 8gb ddr3, this can do anything you want, and well. I use it for everything, work, gaming, web browsing, 3D modeling.

Cons: HEAVY. Also, these models have a high failure rate. The gpu can get fairly hot under intense gaming stress and you can feel it under your right palm. It has good cooling fans, but they get clogged with lint over a period of months, and I suspect I would get much better cooling and decrease the risk of overheating if I cleaned my fans. All that being said, I have ran this thing hot for long periods of time, and even once dropped it a couple feet while running and it has NEVER failed me. I do fear that it will though, jamming such power into a laptop is just unsustainable. Honestly, this computer made me thing that the idea of a gaming laptop is a bad idea, although asus seems to have done the best they could.

Other Thoughts: The high failure rate scares me, but as I said, I have abused this thing for a year and it has not failed me once. This is definitely a better option than buying an overpriced alienware laptop. This is a semi-decent fit for me because I have a work computer that can handle 3D modeling programs, and a gaming machine for when I'm home. Although transporting it to work everyday makes me feel like a pack mule. Get this laptop if you want a gaming laptop, but in general I think gaming laptops are a bad idea. Also if you get this computer and it runs hot, that probably means you need to clean the lint out of the fans. I cleaned my friend's older model of this laptop and there was a thick, rectangular brick of lint that had built up in the way of each ventilation fan. Honestly, this isn't Asus's fault, but they should have made the fans more accessible.

Pros: Good Fast computer.

Cons: The wireless card that comes with it is of very low quality. I've had it for just under 2 months and already the wireless card can not maintain the connection with my router. I have already had to buy a new card and I hope that will solve the issues.

Pros: Powerful CPU and graphics card, nice screen

Cons: Heavy. Fairly short battery life, 3 h when idle, much less under load

Pros: A performance beast. Scores 14880 on Futuremark 06.

Cons: Purple screen after two weeks. Crashes are pixelated and frozen.

Other Thoughts: I thought Nvidia was past these issues. Even the G75 670m use this mobile core. Wait some more before buying one of these gaming rigs. Got an RMA but don't expect to do more gaming on this.

Pros: Powerful processor and graphics card for the price. Beautiful screen. Lightning fast games - handles Skyrim, Borderlands, Diablo III, and Arkham City without breaking a sweat.

Cons: The keyboard takes some getting used to. The spacebar sometimes gives you two spaces instead of one, and unless you really hammer squarely on the center of the key, some keys don't always register. Palm sensing on the touchpad doesn't work so well. For me, the "create restore DVDs" wiped out one of the data partitions on the HDDs. Easy to recreate the partition, but annoying.

Other Thoughts: If you're looking for a powerful gaming laptop for a low price - this is a good choice. While it has a few minor annoyances (keyboard being the largest), none of them are dealbreakers. Very happy with the purchase.