Girlfriend needs a gaming laptop

I've always strictly been a desktop guy so I'm a little ignorant when it comes to laptop gaming. My girlfriend is going away to college this Fall and would like a decent gaming laptop.



1. What is your budget?

$800-$1000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15.6", no larger

3. What screen resolution do you want?

1920x1080, but not mandatory

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Anything would be more powerful than her desktop, so I suppose a desktop replacement.

5. How much battery life do you need?

Not too important.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

She'll want it to play games like WoW, The Sims 3, Dragon Age I&II with at least medium settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

She's plans on doing some animation and possible 3D modeling in school, but I'm sure making these a prime focus would make the cost skyrocket.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

500gb max

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

None really.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

3 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

Blu-ray would be nice, but not necessary.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I hold no bias really, but I've been looking at Asus and MSI laptops more than anything else.

13. What country do you live in?

United States

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

She'd mainly like this to be a gaming laptop, but if it can process animation or modeling programs decent enough that's a plus.

Thank you!