So originally I was planning on getting the new MacBook Pro 2011. However after looking at the specs, it doesnt look to have the power and kick for gaming.

Looking for a 15inch laptop designed to commute with but enough power to game with. I'd like to keep it under 1200 but can go a little over.

how about this one  ;D
http://rog.asus.com/

[BARCODE]

Yes the ROG G53SX is awesome... 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...X&x=7&y=31

Yes the ROG G53SX is awesome... 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...X&x=7&y=31

Yeah, 100% ASUS makes the best gaming laptops for the reasonable price. I bought G73-SW myself, and happy with it.

This is the benchmark and review for that processor :

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core ... 483.0.html

FYI that site is actually pretty damn good at benchmarking processors, and reviews laptops really well. They have a pretty high standard when it comes to laptop performance. If you're gonna research laptops, I'd use that website a fair bit dude.

I'm def. Interested in the 15inch version  at that price point.

I'm also looking at the custom boutique shops such as sager  8150p.

I dislike the performance, battery life, and performance of the MacBook pros and I might still get that if I receive a 25% discount as I do want to keep my desktop as my main gaming pc.

it seems as that quad is the base for all gaming platforms out there though.

[BARCODE]

So what now Joker?hehehe 

I'm def. Interested in the 15inch version  at that price point.

I'm also looking at the custom boutique shops such as sager  8150p.

I dislike the performance, battery life, and performance of the MacBook pros and I might still get that if I receive a 25% discount as I do want to keep my desktop as my main gaming pc.

it seems as that quad is the base for all gaming platforms out there though.

may i know what gaming are u talking about? are u talking about online gaming(like cs, dota, lol, etc) or offline gaming(like deus ex:HR, AC, etc)?
if u are talking about heavy gaming, i would say a big NO to macbook, as it was designed not for gaming...
I would go for ASUS like what barcode said, since ASUS is cheap and have decent specs...
sager could be a choice too, as i have np8150 myself...

if u try to look for laptops that have heavy specs for heavy gaming, u cant really look for the battery life, as the components of the laptop itself takes much energy compared to normal laptops for working in an office...

when i compared np8150 to m15x alienware, the specs of np8150 is a bit higher, while the price of a sager is cheaper for about $50 than alienware

[naive]

I love my lenovo ideapad. It's a 16" with discrete graphics. Great value for price, customizable hardware, great laptop keyboard, multitouchpad, great speakers, good battery life. You can join their email club thing and get special coupons/offers. If you look around you might get lucky and be able to grab one on an employee discount like I did (was like 50% cheaper than any other laptop I could find).

If you like macbooks, get the HP ENVY 15''... Honestly, its the closest thing to build quality, but they have impressive specs last time I checked.