ASUS G53JW-XR1 15.6IN FHD Core i7 740QM 4GB 500GB GeForce 460M WIN7 Prem Notebook 1 Year Wrty

Comment:
Best notebook I've used. Handles almost every game you throw at it on High/Ultra settings.This thing is basically the same as the G73JW from Asus just a bit more portable. The cooling system is amazing - no notebook cooler needed even with extended gaming.Getting inside to upgrade parts is a little trickier. You first have to remove the keyboard which gives you access to 1 RAM upgrade slot plus the screws needed to remove the bottom. On the bottom there is 2 hard drive bays and 2 more ram slots (the 4th ram slot is hidden somewhere else out of reach without disassembling the whole thing). The problem is the second hard drive bay needs a special bracket to hold the drive which is not included and needs to be ordered from Asus - only I have no idea where to order one. However, you can still jerry rig something up to hold the second drive in tight like some well placed cardboard. If you do this I recommend only putting a SSD in this slot since it's not rotating and vibrations won't be a problem for it in a place like that.Other nice little touches is the USB 3.0 port and the glowing Asus logo on the back of the lid.Differences between this (the XR1) and the more expensive A1 model:-The XR1 does not come with a backpack and mouse, the A1 does.-The XR1 has a 1 year warranty including 1 year of accidental damage (drops, spills, etc.) where the A1 has a 2 year warranty plus 1 year of accidental coverage for that first year.-The XR1 comes with 4GB ram and 500GB, the A1 has 6GB and 750GB. Keep in mind for a mere 35 bucks or so you can upgrade the XR1 to 6GB though.It's up to you if the extra money is worth it for the A1. Personally I was able to PM the XR1 here at ncix and the final cost was nearly $400 less than the A1 so it made it a no brainer for me. If the difference was $200 or less I may have thought differently though.Highly recommended.