Need opinions on which of these laptops to buy:
 

Ok, so here is my situation.

I'm going overseas (Indonesia) on Nov. 4th for a year. I need a good laptop that I can take with me that can do basically everything I would want from a desktop, for hopefully under 1400 dollars.

The big things I plan on doing - Gaming, movies, music, skype, browsing online, etc.

So, the laptop I was considering is thehttp://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US...9556072_sb.jpg Asus - Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor - Blue/Black - G60VX-RBBX05

Basic summary:
- Core™2 Duo mobile processor P7450
- 4GB DDR2 memory
- 16" LED-backlit LCD high-definition widescreen display (1366 x 768)
- 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 rpm)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M 1gb
- Webcam, card reader, all the other usual things.

Other, similar laptops are also being sold at Best Buy.

Here is the compare page: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Laptop-C...at150700050002

So, I'm not really sure what to do. I don't have much experience with laptops at all, so I'm not sure if Asus is even that great of a brand (but from what I read its ok).

I don't *have* to buy at Best Buy, but honestly, I would prefer it. Normally I would buy from newegg, but their selection is rather limited at the moment.

So, if you guys have any advice, suggestions, or other laptops to suggest, I'm all ears.

Also - this laptop will *not* be carried with me once I arrive.

It will remain in my apartment.

I like Asus. They've served me well over the years.

Between the three that you've selected, it's a no-brainer. The G72GX is going to be the best gaming platform. It's a big heavier and the battery is a tiny bit smaller than the new G60Vx, but if it's going to be a desktop replacement neither of those are likely going to be major concerns.

Gaming is the big deciding factor. Pretty much any laptop will do all the other things you listed, but you'll need something beefy to play the latest and greatest games.

I'll do some research and get back to you if I find any other candidates.

Any of those are good choices with that powerful of a graphics card in them. They'll be great for gaming and anything else. The battery life will not be impressive no matter what they say so keep that in mind. I'm honestly surprised at how powerful those are for only $1kish.

In regards to the g72, will the 5400 speed HD affect gaming? I assumed it would.

Also, do you think the increased monitor size is worth the upped price?

How much of a difference will I see from each of the processors?

Oh, and laptop cooling pad thingys. Any really good ones out there?

The rotational speed of the hard drive primarily affects seek times. Your games my take a little bit longer to load, but other than that there shouldn't be a difference.

The speed of the processor will have a much larger impact on gaming. You're better off with the faster of the two, for that.

In regards to the monitor, always get the most screen real estate you can afford. The higher resolution is actually the larger benefit, rather than the extra inch or so.

I don't know anything about laptop coolers, so I'll leave that question for someone else.

Thanks for the input Martian.

Ended up going for the mid range one Asus - Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor - Black - G72GX-RBBX05

Digging it so far. 1200 bucks well spent :)

Still like it? I am considering either this one, or the Gateway FX.

I quite like it. Haven't had a single problem so far, windows 7 is great.

Not a *huge* fan of the touchpad, though I barely use it anyways.

Otherwise, it's quite solid.

I just read an article the other day that rated ASUS quite highly in their durability and such.

It plays games very very well, Dragon Age looks amazing on it.

I ended up going with this one:

Asus - Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor - Black - G72Gx-RBBX09

I love it. It's a fucking BEAST. Shows finger prints really bad though. The rest is good stuff, it's just an amazing laptop for the price. Asus is really impressing me. All of their gaming laptops are unbelievable bargains.

Glad you like it. Does yours do a weird exploding sound when it starts up and flash the Republic of Gamers logo?

It about made me shit my pants the first time.

Yes, go into BIOS (I think F2 when you turn on the PC) and go to the Boot Options. Disable the "full screen boot logo" option or something like that. Then you get your boot with no graphics or explosion sounds :)

Go with Asus. I've been using Asus motherboards for the last 8 years or so and they're all perfect. I also got a an Asus laptop which is perfect in everything I do including watching movies and even using it for making VoIP calls with my Onesuite.com account. Wifi signal is very good too so you'll expect good connection using wifi for the internet.