So, I'm planning on selling my Macbook Pro 15 inch since Steam runs like shit on it, and Bootcamp is just a pain in the ass to deal with every time. I've been wanting to get a desktop replacement, and so I figured with the money I get from selling the MBP, I'd put it towards one. Price is an issue so I wanted to keep it under $2000.
Enter the Asus G73
This notebook seems like a beast. I've seen the lower models perform at my local Fry's and they run the Resident Evil 5 benchmark almost perfectly. The hardware specs are amazing, and I'm not too concerned with size, portability, or battery life, since it's going to be plugged into a wall 99% of the time, and theres tons of outlets at my college for gaming on the go. I've been wanting a desktop replacement since I hate dealing with towers and space is always limited, and the laptop seems like the best deal for the price.
I've read a lot of reviews on it, and all seem to love it, but I wanted some extra confirmation from people here that actually know what they are talking about and won't just rattle off benchmark score. I don't give a shit about Blu-ray either, I have a PS3 for that.

I have an older model, G71G. I can tell you for sure that the build quality of the Republic of Gamers laptops is awesome. Almost a year now, and I've never had any problems with it.
It might be running a little hot sometimes, but you will barely notice it, because the heat is distributed on the bottom of the laptop, and the keyboard barely gets warm.
The newest G73 model is a beast, really. If I can run TF2, L4D2, Starcraft 2 all maxed out, and Crysis nearly maxed out, then for sure, the G73 will perform even better.
Get it, if you have the money. And you will have a powerful portable gaming machine.
Lan parties have never been more fun! :)
EDIT: With the package, I also received a big, beautiful Republic of Gamers bag. And, this bag has really "saved" my life. I had food, clothes, the laptop, books in it. Its like a portable mini-home. :lol:
Also, I received a Razer Copperhead gaming mouse.
Dunno if the G73 includes the mouse, but it should include a bag.

Gaming laptops are a bad idea...
Why not build a slim desktop?

Why are they a bad idea? :)

Because video cards are the first thing to become obsolete and one of the things you can't upgrade on a laptop (okay okay you can but its a pain in the arse, might not work with the heatsink you have and voids your warranty) whereas on a real computer you can just pull out the old GPU and whack in a new one (assuming the slot standard hasn't changed).
I wouldn't call gaming laptops a bad idea, just one with a shorter effective lifespan

They do have shorter effective lifespan as a gaming machine, yes, even after their lifetime as a gaming machine is over, they can do most tasks better than the "regular" laptops.
I'm sure my G71G will last at least a few more years. It depends on which kind of games you play, really.
And, its portability is a big plus for LAN parties and other kinds of gatherings.
Also, it gives you bragging rights. See, I have this beautiful gaming laptop with lights coming out of it, see. :p

the 5870 is the best card out there on the market. if you've got at least four gigs of ram (preferably ddr3 of course) and a legit processor (there are so many different procs right now) then there isn't any game you'll have any trouble with currently. find the cheapest laptop with those conditions and you're golden, although I think you might have come into this thread with the right idea--i just bought an asus g72gx five hours ago after searching for weeks for the best sub-$800 notebook.

Republic of Gamers is the cheesiest thing I've ever read.

I like cheese.

And twice as expensive. And typically not supported by publishers. And they overheat much more easily. And the batteries die relatively quickly. That adds up to a bad idea for me. :P

Because I'm sick and tired of wasting time, energy, and money building my own rigs, which I've been doing since 1998. I just want to have something portable that I can use for when I have to spend long hours at school waiting for a class, or one that I can take with me when I do a study abroad program. Plus, space is a real big issue in my house, and frankly, with my last computer, there really wasn't much space around with the tower, the 22 inch monitor, the Logitech keyboard, my mouse, and the 5.1 speaker setup. Having everything in a 17 inch box would be preferable.

If you don't mind the heat, there's the Sager NP8850. They also offer the Asus G73JH-A1 you're looking at, but customizable if you want to max out your budget. Don't forget to buy a Kensington Lock, since you're going to college!

Man, these laptops make my laptop I bought in February look like something from the 90s.

Well it's not just that, take me with a grain of salt since I am talking about personal experiences and don't know how good cooling on modern laptop is, however I'd say general lifespan of gaming laptops is way shorter than a desktop.
See, they generally seem to have a pretty hard time with GPU and CPU cooling (I have even noticed that with regular drivers forced on it my graphics card is way faster, but overheats as hell), and a computer that constantly overheats can have it's lifespan cut way too short.

Maybe, but personally, I have never had any problems with my laptop overheating (so far). I do clean the cooler of the graphics card and everything else inside the laptop every two weeks.