$1200 gaming laptop

A good deal...
The specs looks good do not know about the shipping price though

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/2012_Halloween_Valkyrie_...

will it be better to wait untill black friday?

Black friday/cyber monday is a crap shoot. The halloween special is a good deal although make sure to do the free upgrades if you want it. I do not know how well it cools, ect. The specs are awsome for the price, it has a blue backlit keyboard, and make sure to get windows 7.

atm your other options are a ge70 or a lenovo y580 with a full hd screen each are worse in the gaming department by far. but are cheaper

the MSI had some very negative reviews on newegg complaining of hardware issues might those problems affect other retailers

I cant comment on the quality of the ge70 though I have heard that it is not the best. The halloween special has good specs. Its the cheapest gtx 675m laptop. I like my gt70 but that is 1400.

how about this with gtx 675m upgrade. and what ram upgrade would be best.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9150-clevo-p150em-p-4341...

8GB is fine. I would upgrade the hard drive and an os to get the $100 off.

I've now worked on a number of the MSI's. (mostly non-hardware related)
I'd say the MSI's are well-built and well-worth the money in most cases.

This doesn't mean I have anything against Sager, Alienware, or ASUS.
All of them have their advantages and disadvantages.

I don't think I'd buy a gaming laptop from Newegg though. Go with the private retailers like gentech, powernotebooks, xoticpc, etc.
They usually have better prices, more options, and better service than newegg could ever offer you.