First off, don't listen to all these people that say NOT to use a laptop for gaming. I have been using an Asus G53 for over a year and it runs max settings perfectly fine. Never overheats, 1080p, plenty of processing power. When I am done, I can carry it with me in a backpack, unlike a desktop. The only cord I need to have attached to it is the power cord (beyond a good 1.5 hours of battery).
With the way technology is heading, desktops will become a thing of the past for most users. Laptops will be replacing them in most situations, with tablets also taking a large chunk out of the desktop community. People want smaller, lighter, faster...that is the road we are headed down.
Many "gamers" think bigger is better and actually wind up spending too much, or making their system "overkill" vs. what they really need. Future proofing? No such thing. What is top dog today will play 2nd fiddle to what is available 2 years down the road.
To answer your question, you can get this from HP for $800:
DV6T 7000 series Quadcore i7-3610QM (2.3GHz + TB, 6MB L2 cache)
NVidia GT 650M 1GB DDR5 (some say get 2GB but nothing really needs that much video card memory for gaming)
8GB DDR3 RAM
750GB 7200rpm HD
15.6" 1080p screen
Blu-ray player
Backlit keyboard
Beats Audio
Use a coupon code (all over the internet) and actually call them for an even bigger discount after the code is applied. They will work with you.
I'm sorry, but I must disagree with you. While gaming on a laptop is certainly a possibility, and many people do it.
Why do I disagree? Heat. It all depends on the type of games you're playing and what graphic settings you're running them on. But if you plan on running anything even remotely high end, a laptop is going to get you into trouble. On load with ultra settings my setup doesn't pass 50 degrees Celsius, which is pretty good.
You say your laptop never overheats, but how closely do you monitor the temperatures? Heat lowers parts longevity, and in the long run performance. Now, if you have tons of disposable cash and you want to upgrade laptops every other year and don't expect ultra graphics on bleeding edge games, then a gaming laptop may be fine.
Also, all modern chips have automatic slowdown/under clocking when they get too warm. This can cause unstable systems and huge performance drains during gameplay. Something I don't have to worry about with a desktop system thanks to proper ventilation.
The fact is, the computer I just built, without doing *any* upgrades, will play anything that comes out for the 5 years or so. And if I must, I can throw another GPU in for relatively cheap (most likely under $200) and keep up just fine.
It all depends on your expectations, and if you're on a limited budget you by a FAR long shot get more bang for your buck with a desktop computer vs a laptop.
Besides, being able to play on a 23" screen is much funner than a 15.6" screen.
Or in the case of skyrim/bf3, I can play it on my 60" 1080p over HDMI with an xbox controller, truly a beautiful thing. Try that on your laptop on ultra.
(While running two other monitors on top of that)
