If you're a gamer and you refuse to drop a bundle of money on overrated Alienware rigs, this is what you should aim for. The power on this machine is simply phenomenal! With the hardware it currently possesses, it's enough to run any game on the market at the highest level of detail.

Pros: Lightning fast, lightweight for a gaming laptop, more bang for buck, runs cool and stays silent, beautifully designed, includes nice bag and gaming laser mouse with purchase.

Cons: Touchpad is a little sketchy (I'm sure if you're gaming, you'll either used the included gaming laser mouse or use your own), shell can scratch very easily.

**** Edit ****

i have since the original posting upgraded the ram from 16gb to 32gb with no issues.

CORSAIR 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory

********** end of edit **********

The good:

12 gb of ram

bluray drive

17.3" screen that looks bigger

intel second gen i7

usb 3.0

The bad:

it comes with the nvidia 560gtx instead of the 570 or the newer 580

its no light weight. you don't want to carry this around all day.

if you are like me and go to lan partys then you will enjoy not having to drag around a case, monitor, keyboard, etc....

i put in 16 gb of ram and it was easy there is one big cover on the bottom with a screw that gives you access to the ram and hd's.

the next thing i will do when i can afford it is put in a ssd drive

my windows 7 experience index on this system is

Processor: 7.5

Memory: 7.9

Graphics: 7.2

Gaming graphics: 7.2

Hard Drive: 5.9

what sort of disappoints me about the numbers is i have a older laptop with a 460gtx that gets the same numbers (graphics).

so must be a setting or something slowing it up.

the hard drive speed will get better when i put in a ssd or if i can figure out if i can raid 0 the drives.

when i got this system it was between the MSI that has the gtx570 and this one.

i heard the MSI has a better warranty but don't matter if you can't get a hold of them, and that has been my experience with MSI.

i had bought 2 motherboards in the past for systems and needed tech support for both. one had to flash the bios because the with out it the board would not recognize the cpu. the second contact was a bad mobo. both times could not get a response from MSI.

the one thing i cant understand why laptop makers still do it is put in vga connectors i would much rather have 2 hdmi ports on the system.

but over all i am pleased with this system and would recommend it to anyone, with or with out the changes.

Overall Summery:

Great system

Some areas of improvement

Not meant to be carried around much.

Who should get this system?

Gamer's

it runs

battlefield 3 great

crysis no problem

skyrim with ease

cod wm3 great

wow lol ya i play it runs great

this does out perform some of my friends gaming desktops

Buy ASUS G74SX-DH71 Full HD 17.3-Inch LED Gaming Laptop - Republic of Gamers (Black) Now

I don't know how I could have gotten a better laptop even if I had spent more money.

Graphics: Awesome

Screen/Video: Awesome

Keyboard: Excellent (takes some getting used to)

Fan Exhaust: Excellent (blows out the back not down)

Mouse: Excellent

Startup: Excellent

I am extremely pleased this computer. The screen is huge and the processing power is perfect. I play Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with maximized graphics. I'm unsure of the FPS because I've never felt the need to check. It plays so smooth. I do restart the computer after about 6 hours of playing. I did have one issue with the cursor twitching but the restart fixed it.

Startup is very fast. Windows 7 takes about 30 seconds from hitting the power button to having all startup programs finished.

Keyboard is excellent. The keys need to be pushed slightly harder than I'm used to but that may be due to my hand position. The mouse that comes with it is responsive and I have no complaints. I really like the fan exhaust design. The heat blows out the back of the laptop not the bottom. The styling is cool and I also like the rubberized finish. As stated in other reviews, it does not smudge easily like glossy laptops. Although it does smudge but I haven't tried to clean it yet, I'm sure a damp towel will take care of it.

I travel with it a lot and the backpack that came with it is great. It is a brick to carry around if you worry about that sort of thing.

The touch pad was very sensitive but I just turned it off when a mouse is plugged in. I have not tried the Wifi yet. I haven't tried the BlueRay player yet.

Read Best Reviews of ASUS G74SX-DH71 Full HD 17.3-Inch LED Gaming Laptop - Republic of Gamers (Black) Here

This computer is AMAZING! As a girl aesthetics matter even if they shouldn't and I have to say this is a gorgeous computer, I call it my Transformer pc haha. I am a big gamer and I really wanted a computer that could handle 55 fps or more at 1080p and this computer does it! Also I am a graphic designer so I use the adobe software to create my products. I learned my adobe trade on a mac and I was a little worried that I wouldn't like how it carried over to pc or that the computer would lag. I have to say, after effects runs faster on here than the imac I have at work (if you set it up to render that way). I know that at times it might seem like core i7 might be overkill but in the long run there is a big difference in the speed of the i5 and this one. I personally would never use the 3d aspect because I do not own a 3d tv but i've heard some friends of mine say that this computer does a good job with that too. Overall the speakers are very good. This was my first really big purchase on amazon and I was a little weary on rather or not I could trust it to get here in one piece if you will. Not only was I highly impressed with the amount of packing in the asus box but there were two amazon boxes around it. I will NEVER doubt amazon again on that. It comes with a very nice backpack that is bigenough to carry the laptop, that brick of a charger, a two inch binder, turtle beach headset, wacom tablet, mouse, and my kindle. It also comes with a fairly nice gaming mouse. It is wired and there is a spot on top that you change the DPI. It is not specified anywhere what that is but the highest speed is so fast i have to cut it down a couple.

Pros:

hard drive 1500g (double the most expensive alienware laptop)

graphics card 3g

screen resolution 1080p

screen size 17.3 in

backlit keys (like a mac)

CHIC LET KEYS! (this makes typing and gaming life so much easier)

The 2 giant fans in the back (I was afraid mostly that it would be very loud but it actually quieter than my previous hp, also it never gets warm underneath)

It is 64 bit (there is a special adobe photoshop CS5.5 which runs very very smooth on here)

Cons:

Weight (now given that is is a monster it does not seem so heavy unless you have to carry it all the time. At university it is kind of a hassle but the included backpack does a good job distributing the weight)

the charger (it is about the size of the xbox power block, now i knew it would be big and it doesnt really seem all that big until you put it next to your old charger)

The driver is missing for the webcam (someone said that it is broke, its not you just need to download the driver)

Here is a list of games I have ran on here as of today that work flawlessly:

Left 4 Dead (game wasn't made in 1080p but the highest res looks great)

Left 4 Dead 2

Dungeon Defenders (SO PRETTY)

Mass Effect

Mass Effect 2

Bioshock

Portal

Portal 2

Oblivion

Skyrim

Overall this is by far the best computer i have ever had, it runs so smooth and i have never had it lag or freeze up on a program. Defiantly worth the small fortune it cost. I highly recommend this computer over any of the other g74s series and a mac/alienware. It's cheaper that the competitor and asus has great customer service. Also it comes with a card you send in and you get a year accidental damage free (ie spills, drops, surges ect.)I will probably post pictures of the mouse and backpack. Good Luck and if you decide to treat yourself to this beaut enjoy!

Want ASUS G74SX-DH71 Full HD 17.3-Inch LED Gaming Laptop - Republic of Gamers (Black) Discount?

Having doing alot of research VIA the Republic of Gamer forums and on Amazon.com I decided to buy this masterpiece of Asus Engineering.

Before Anything Else I am going to list the hardware and put things in bold that need to be there to avoid confusion when buying.

System Specs:

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)