Gaming Laptop Dilemma

Hey guys,
I've posted before asking for some help on deciding on a gaming laptop. I think I have it down to two models but am beating myself over the head over the pros and cons of each.

The main purpose of the laptop is to provide me with a good gaming rig I can lug around to LAN parties and play some of the latest games (Modern Warfare 2, new Battlefield coming soon, Dragon Age, various MMOs, etc.).

The first laptop I'm looking at is the SAGER NP8760, specs listed below:

Sager NP8760 (Built on Clevo W870CU) Custom Gaming Laptop
- 17.3" FHD LED Backlit 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1080)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-720QM, 1.60-2.80GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
- Standard Finish
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- None Standard -
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- 11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
~$2200


The second I'm considering is the ASUS G72GX-A1:

ASUS G72GX-A1
- !! FREE !! UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code FREESHIP in Checkout - US Only)
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1080)-
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) 30 Day Pixel Guarantee
- -Intel® Q9000 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Quad 2.0GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB - Default
- NEW! IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (Cools better than AS5)
- nVidia GeForce GTX 260M 1,024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- - 6,144MB (6GB) DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (3x2GB)
- Standard Finish
- - 2X Blu-Ray Reader / 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- - 500GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default
- - 500GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader: MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in 802.11 Wireless A/B/G/N
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Asus G Series Matching Backpack made by Targus
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Fingerprint Reader
- Asus G Series Gaming Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Standard
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 2 Year ASUS GLOBAL Warranty, 24/7 Support, 1 Year Accidental Coverage & 2-Way Pre-Paid Overnight Shipping for Repairs (N.A. Accidental Requires Registration w/ ASUS)
~$1700


While price isn't the deciding factor, I want to make sure I'm getting a lot of bang for the buck. Is the core i7 720qm and geforce gtx 280m worth the extra $500 for my needs? I'm also concerned about future viability with the ASUS. Will the ASUS last me 2-3 years of playing games or will I be struggling at medium to high settings in a year or so?

Any help would definitely be greatly appreciated!!!

Go for the Sager model,i7/GTX 280M is a better combo than Q9000/GTX 260M for gaming and other tasks

If you have the money....Sager. But if your worried about money then go with the ASUS, you save alot of money for a minor drop in power.

If I did the configuring right, you'd save $61 credit ($125 cash) here:

http://www.pro-star.com/index.cfm? [...] d=10031877

There are ways to get additional discounts

Well, I don't know what games he plays and there is no knowing what he will play in the distant future, so it's hard to tell.

When I go to the customize screen it's customizable up to 8GB....., but for $605.

Remember the 280GTX M is nothing but a 9800GTX and the 260M is nothing but a M version of the 9600GT. Honestly I would wait until Nvidia pulled its head out of its orifice and properly labeled their mobile graphics chips to what they really should be or releases real mobile versions of the G200.

I think the most important thing in this thread is what Maziar said... matching up the mobile part number to the approximate desktop equivalent.

I wonder how many people would still buy their ultra-high-end GTX 280m equipped laptops (for some ridiculous price premium) if they knew they were really just getting a 9800 GTX. It's definitely a clever naming scheme by Nvidia... gotta hand it to 'em for that.

Because:

• Low res screen for a 15'' unit
• Base config comes with a low end T4200 CPU
• Base config only has 2gb of RAM
• Base config has a small, low speed HDD
• No installed OS ($110 option)

Yeah, bump those things up and you quickly double the price. lol