Plaing games on lower res looks terrible on higher res laptops - true?

I wouldn't say it looks terrible. Every monitor has a native resolution. Setting it to any setting other than the native resolution won't look as good as the native resolution. But it can still look very nice and is quite worth it if that's the only way you can play a game with acceptable frame rates.

If you're buying a laptop to primarily play games, I'd buy one with a lower native resolution, then buy a separate monitor with 1920x1080 for anything else you might want.

It's not exactly primarily for playing games, although I will be playing on it probably some modern games. It's rather for surfing, writing essays, sometimes watching stuff on Youtube and occasionally play on it something like TF2, Magicka, oldies or perhaps even Skyrim (though I'm not sure about that yet).

So I'm deciding between 15" Lenovo Z570 with 1336x760 screen or 17" ASUS N73SV with 1900x1200, both of which have the GeForce 540 graphics card, or 15" the Asus N55SF with 555 and 1900x1200 (which however is matte, unlike the other two).

Now the thing is that I'd like a laptop with good screen and I'm used to playing on a 500:1 contrast 19" BenQ screen, so I'm thinking that the full HD 'tops will probably have better contrast and brightness. I won't be playing that much on it since I'm getting it for Erasmus but when I do, it's either going to be some oldie, some Steam game or if it looks good on the laptop, Skyrim.

I currently have a 17" Gateway FX with 1920x1200 on a glossy screen with a 9800M GTS (much better than the 540, but not quite as good as the 555). I just built my own desktop because the notebook is no longer able to play new-ish games well.

The first two notebooks you mention may not run Skyrim at all, and if the 1336x760 does, it will be sluggish at best. The last one with the 555 probably will run Skyrim, but at very low settings. As for the other games, they'll probably be fine, even on the 540 card, but the settings probably will have to be pretty low, especially if you play at 1920x1200.

I assume you have to be mobile? Otherwise I'd say look at desktops too, especially if the panel is of that high of importance to you. But if it really is between those three, then I'd go with the Asus with the 550 chip.

Ah, just looked back and realized you said you already have a desktop. Yeah, just go with the better GPU if you want to be sure you can play some of those games. Keep in mind that a 17" notebook is mobile, but only kind of. It's heavy and it's really hard to find a bag or case that will hold it.

550 - you mean 555 or 540? ¨

Actually, both can run Skyrim, according to various youtube videos, notebookcheck.com and forums the 540 is able to play it on medium with AA turned off, 555 medium high. But the things is that I'd like a good looking screen so the two Asus notebooks would be good, however overall I like Lenovo's looks the best. But if I were to play Skyrim on it, I'm not sure which one would look the best.

What if we took Skyrim out of the equation and went just for less demanding games like Magicka and TF2? (although Magicka should have at least 540 I heard).

I'm taking it abroad, I can't take a desktop with me, so it will be partially a desktop replacement, however I will be doing gaming only occasionally I think, like three times a week or so for several hours.

For some reason it tells me I can't edit my message.

I just noticed your edit - well, now I'm deciding more between the two 15" because I like visually Lenovo the best. What do you think would look better, game on a full HD screen lowered to 720p or running at 720p native but with some things scaled down because of a less powerful graphics card? Though I heard 540 and 555 aren't that much far apart. I normally play at home on my 19" desktop with a 1280x1024, Radeon HD 4850 512MB, so I can play a lot of games on max.

Ha! Sorry, I meant 555.

Hmm, I'm impressed that people have been having success with Skyrim on that hardware. I haven't played Skyrim, so I'm going on benchmarks I've seen. Like this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-...

The GT 430 at 1920x1080 w/ medium detail and no anti-aliasing has frame rates just barely above 30, and it's a slightly better card than the 540:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-ca...

That'd be awesome if it runs on small cards like that. Just questioning a bit, because it's the worst to invest hundreds of dollars into something that doesn't meet your expectations.

I'd think any of the computers would run TeamFortress2 and Magicka. It sounds like the screen is of particularly high importance for you, so I'd go with what's going to make you the happiest. Glossy is nice.

Also, in about a week or two (after I clear it off), I'll have one of these for sale:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/gateway-fx-p-7805u/4505...

Even though the reviews say it has 1440x900, the panel is actually 1920x1200, a very nice LG screen. But I'm not allowed to sell anything on here. Just sayin ;-)

1920x1200 is going to be teeny tiny on a 15" screen. I didn't even know they had that available. But it'll be crisp like a retina display! If you really think you'd like 1920x1200, even at that size, then I'd go with the ASUS + 555, because you have more flexibility. However, if you wind up playing games at lower resolution, the native 720p might look a little crisper at that res. I dunno dude, it's a tough choice, hehe

It depends a lot on the resolution too, so if you cut it down, you'll get higher framerate. And anything above 30 FPS should be fine since the console version are limited at 30 FPS (likewise is BF3). And when you lower the res you get average 50 FPS, which is great.

Those two mobile graphics cards usually manage to run roughly at 30 FPS, 720p medium and with AA off the 555 manages to run on max at 720p (if you configure the settings as people have posted in Lenovo, Asus and Acer forums, it involves setting shadow to medium or something and almost everything else except AA to ultra). You can even find youtube videos, just google "540 skyrim" or "555 skyrim" and you'll see.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.417...

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-555M.419...

Hehe, cool. I'm from EU though, so I buy PCs and laptops over here as it would be too much of a hassle with the warranty, shipping and tax.   Though I don't mind importing video games and such.  

Yeah, the 1080p is available on some 15" laptops in Europe but not that many. Most people say everything gets too small anyway and they prefer the 1600x900 resolution which however usually is (in my country) available only in 17". The 15" 'tops usually have just the 1336x760 res.

I'm probably going to solve this by going to our biggest showroom store and taking a good look at all of them - unfortunately they don't the N75SV but only the N53SV, which had a much more darker screen than the K53e next to it. It wasn't so colourful and lively. But overall I don't like either of those N series Asus laptops anyway, I like more the dark G series Lenovos. Which, of course, don't have a GT 540m in my country. If only I could tailor the looks, then I'd have the perfect laptop!  
Thanks for the tips!

No prob! Have fun during the selection process!