Replacement Possibilities for 6-Year Old Laptop

[Aeka]

I'm looking for some feedback on the following possible choices to replace my 6-year old laptop (dual core 1.83 Ghz, GT 8800M). It's what I use for work, but also I do game with it, so I'm looking to upgrade my performance, both for work and gaming. And this would be for someone in the USA, so fantastic deals elsewhere, well, does not apply.

Oh, and for gaming, usually I'm using it hooked up to a 23" monitor (HDMI), using a mouse and a seperate gaming keyboard. So while I don't want junk for keyboards, touchpads and monitors, they're not as important, right now, as for someone who'll be using those as their primary gaming tools.

On sale for $1199.00 US

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+1...&skuId=5176239

Yeah, 5400 RPM drive, which is what I have now, so I'd likely not be looking at a downgrade on that part. I believe it does have a bay to put in another HD, so an SSD would be a possible upgrade.

At $1329.00 US

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...&skuId=5710641

Memory upgrade, 7200 RPM and a GTX 670M for another $129.00.

At $1599.00 US

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/MSI+-+17...&skuId=5764129

Less HD space than the Toshiba, but the same speed vs. a raid setup, with the big difference being the GTX 675M 2GB version.

Same version at TigerDirect.com for $1599.00 -$100.00 rebate.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...129&CatId=4938

Despite the horror stories about Best Buy, I've had good luck with their service.

I like to be able to walk in and bring in a computer for repairs as opposed to shipping it off, or to have a service tech come to my home or office.

So here's a few questions: How's the Square Trade Warranty Tiger Direct uses? Would I have to ship off a laptop or would a tech come to me?

660M vs. 670M vs. 675M: Well, heh, obviously I know what's better. All would be better than what I have atm, of course, but how much better is a 670M over a 660M? A 675M over a 670M or 660M? I've seen nVidia's claims that you get up to 60% better performance than the 660M; that the 660M & 670M have 128 bit memory interface vs. the 675M's 256 bit. So I'm asking how does this realistically translate for someone who might swing with the occassional FPS, but usually will be doing MMOs like WoW, GW2, etc.?

Anyone ever get the Tiger Direct preferred account? How was your experience?

Asus, Toshiba & MSI: Any horror stories, good experiences (recently)? I keep seeing bad things about iBuyPower, for instance.

Oh, and I've looked at some custom build places such as Digital Storm http://www.digitalstormonline.com/ (all of which looks great) but DS doesn't take Amex.

I'm leaning towards Best Buy due to past good experiences, a Best Buy Credit Card or Amex, plus a few gift cards and reward certificates, though I remain open to other options.

I find Newegg's site to be rather clunky to navigate, which is why no choices from there.

Thanks for the input.

[Masark]

For comparisons of laptop videocards, notebookcheck is a good source of info.

I personally own an ASUS G53SX, which is basically the smaller version of your first option, though it's last year's model. I haven't had any problems at all with it. Tossing an SSD in the 2nd drive bay is on my list of things to do sometime. Might get one as a Christmas present to myself in December when the warranty ends.

[Darkis]

I've been with Asus for about 10 years now. Don't have even one bad word to say about this brand. Rock solid build, great hardware, don't know about warranty, since i never had to use it.

Toshibas should be quite good too. But i would stay clear of MSI, completely personal opinion though. No idea what iBuyPower is, an american brand? Wouldn't even touch it just because of the name to be honest.

[Alski]

Unless your work involves a lot of CPU power i would recommend getting a 3rd generation i5 instead of the i7, for gaming there isn't much difference between them until you start getting in to the high end resolutions(which your screen probably cant run at) and it is a fair bit cheaper.

[Milkshake86]

If you can beat this laptop @ the price pls do

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Batta..._Gaming_Laptop

Review of the 17" version

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6173/i...with-alienware

[Aeka]

For comparisons of laptop videocards, notebookcheck is a good source of info.

I personally own an ASUS G53SX, which is basically the smaller version of your first option, though it's last year's model. I haven't had any problems at all with it. Tossing an SSD in the 2nd drive bay is on my list of things to do sometime. Might get one as a Christmas present to myself in December when the warranty ends.

Thanks for the link. Very helpful. Gives a better breakdown than Tom's Hardware. Yeah, I've heard that Asus is pretty solid.