Reliable, portable, and gameable laptop needed

[sunzt]

So I've been out of the laptop game for a while. My last one was a dell inspiron 1505E back from 2006. I'm mostly using my work laptop which is pretty decent, a dell latitude E6410 (which is pretty awesome), for home and day to day browsing. This motivated me to upgrade my laptop to something new, but i need some help. Lets keep my budget at around 1.8k or less.

Here's what I want:
- Under 17 inches display, but at least 14 inches.
- under 8 lbs
- Able to play Skyrim at a smooth FPS on high display settings. I'm not really in the loop on the fastest/bang for the buck laptop graphics options out there, but i think the Nvidia 680 is the fastest? Doesn't have to be that fast, just fast enough to play the latest games for the next 5 years or so.
- Durable/Reliable. I hear the Thinkpads are pretty good and would like to have good build quality along those lines.
- Battery life more than 4 hours or so
- SSD of at least 120 GB
- HDMI and VGA out
- Dual monitor support
- Good customer support

Anyone care to make suggestions? I looked at the G74/75, but those are too heavy/big and i don't know about their reliability/durability.

 

[Sunburn74]

Not sure what counts these days as dual monitor support for a laptop....

 

[kbp]

"just fast enough to play the latest games for the next 5 years or so"

Better get big/heavy then.

 

[lakedude]

Hmmmmm

 

[lakedude]

Thinkpads are great but they tend to be more business orientated so they don't typically have awesome graphics. In fact very few laptops are going to be available with a 680. MSI, and the Prostar/Clevo/Sager/Eurocom/Alienware clones are where you are going to find a 680.

No way you are getting all that you listed. Too many conflicting needs/wants.

A gamer is going to be big, heavy and have poor battery life while gaming...

 

[sunzt]

SCORE! I found it.
Gigabyte P2542G
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4177#sp

Only neg is that it's not out until "Q3 2012" lol. So hopefully in a few months I can get one .

I also looked at the MSI GE60, but heard bad things about it. I also realized i needed a min of a NVidia GTX 660M to play the games I want.

The Lenovo Y580 fit the bill, but its heavier than the gigabyte and the heat dissipation is much worse. I like the fact the Gigabyte has two rear exhaust fans.

 

[sgrinavi]

you can get all that in a sager/clevo today

 

[sunzt]

you can get all that in a sager/clevo today

Thanks for the heads up. I checked out the sager NP9130 and it's pretty nice. However i still think i'll wait for the gigabyte since its about a pound lighter (although with only a 6-cell i think), thinner, probably has better sound, and may be cheaper for the config i want. I'll have to wait and see how the reviews shape up for it. My main concern is how well its going to dissipate heat.

 

[Nsab3001]

SCORE! I found it.
Gigabyte P2542G
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4177#sp

Only neg is that it's not out until "Q3 2012" lol. So hopefully in a few months I can get one .

I also looked at the MSI GE60, but heard bad things about it. I also realized i needed a min of a NVidia GTX 660M to play the games I want.

The Lenovo Y580 fit the bill, but its heavier than the gigabyte and the heat dissipation is much worse. I like the fact the Gigabyte has two rear exhaust fans.

That gigabyte looks pretty awesome. I'm also in the market for a gaming laptop for guild wars 2 and I'm looking for something that would last a tiny bit longer. Thx for the heads up on this laptop. Might wait to get this laptop or I may buy a used one till that one comes out. Lol

 

[sunzt]

That gigabyte looks pretty awesome. I'm also in the market for a gaming laptop for guild wars 2 and I'm looking for something that would last a tiny bit longer. Thx for the heads up on this laptop. Might wait to get this laptop or I may buy a used one till that one comes out. Lol

So gigabyte also just released the U2442 Ultrabook with a 14 inch display and a Nvidia GT 640m for around 1-1.2k. It's only ~3.5 lbs and has 2 rear vents for cooling.

I'm really debating between this ultrabook and the 15.6 version. At a lower resolution in the ultrabook you can run games fine on a 640m and even overclock it. Choices choices.....

 

[AlexAL]

Link for the Gigabyte U2442. First it was supposed to arrive Aug. 15, now Sep. 1.

http://www.excaliberpc.com/618943/gigabyte-u2442v-cf1-14-ultrabook.html