Well, what I'd really want in a "true" gaming laptop.....err, a developer laptop that I can game on (hehe) is the option to have an Nvidia video card & not the, typically, default Intel chipset. While the Intel 4000 series is decent, it doesn't hold a candle to Nvidia's laptop offerings in both performance & cooling. Neither System76 nor Dell give you those options but the other distributor that distributes laptops w/Linux distros does- ZAReason:
<a href="http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/">http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/</a><div><br></div><div>Their Strata 6770 comes with the Nvidia 540m which has 1GB of RAM (vram for us older folks who remember that). This Nvidia card supports DirectX 11 & 3DVision (for your 3d games & movies enjoyment). It's their cheapest card that comes w/an Nvidia & starting at $850, I find it to be a really good deal for anyone wanting/needing to do really graphics-intensive things like playing high-end/new games or editing video/graphics. If/when I get one, I'll be sure to let the group know of my findings.</div>
<div><a href="http://zareason.com/shop/Strata-6770.html">http://zareason.com/shop/Strata-6770.html</a>
</div><div><a href="http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gt-540m">http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gt-540m</a>
</div><div><a href="http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html">http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html</a>
</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTZl04MF-88">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTZl04MF-88</a> (youtube vid showing the Nvidia 540m playing Battlefield 3...really smooth/fast)</div><div><br></div><div>cheers,</div>
<div>--miguel</div>