Avoid MSI. They have thermal design / throttling issues, and unbalanced CPU/GPU combinations. The other thing to avoid on laptops is anything with a AMD GPU. Go Nvidia, the drivers are just that much more stable, and you won't want to deal with the issues that crop up with AMD GPU's on laptops. It just isn't worth it.
The Asus ones are indeed nice! The problem is the more power you want, the larger/heavier/expensive it will get. The Asus gaming series, which nice and balanced, is not sub 1k. If you want power, you'll have to pay for it, and it comes closer to 1500$ than sub 1000. I am not a fan of IBP or Cyberpower, as there's better laptop boutiques out there. Maingear (New Jersey iirc), Mythlogic (free display calibration, based in Michigan / Wisconson area). Avadirect (huge parts selection, Ohio), Eurocom (Canadian), even Origin, just to name a few.
The Nvidia 750m is actually the minimum you need, and can come in a smaller form factor, as small as 10-11" displays, which can be lighter. There's a variety of models it comes in as well.
http://anandtech.com/tag/mobile is a nice place to look for comparisons, and particularly you'll see the actual benchmark results here:
http://anandtech.com/show/7287/analyzing...-laptops/3
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-...130.0.html
Buying laptops is all about compromise, and you'll have to consider what you want most: Power (Will be more expensive, less portable), Budget (cheaper, decent enough, but no power or portability), or Portability (Ultrabooks, can be sub 1k, but more potentially more expensive), and find the sweet spot that suits you best.
I mentioned thermal throttling before, and I will do so again. Laptops with poor venting will overheat, cook themselves, and not perform well. Asus does a good job here, the Clevo based models all do well, but MSI is known for having poor thermal design.
Basically if you want power and are willing to pay a little more, get a clevo based model such as from Mythlogic / Avadirect/ Eurocom, with a nvidia 780M, and ideally a solid state drive. Asus gaming series is quite nice as well, but they do not offer the highest power GPU (780m), but do offer nice aesthetics and a complete package with build quality too. If you want portability, get an Asus Zenbooks (or other ultrabook), but they usually lack gaming power. I chose the 11" Clevo's with 750m's, lots of power for their resolution, but lots of portability too.
Clevo mythlogic review
http://anandtech.com/show/7250/mythlogic...7sm-review
Zenbooks, get the Prime if you are getting the UX31A.
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook/
The UX31A's small, sleek and about 800$ at amazon right now, and utterly gorgeous. That's the go to laptop for portability. Last gen CPU, but you get a price discount for it. Everything about it is top quality though.
Looking forward to the Zenbook refresh that's coming up.
The Asus ones are indeed nice! The problem is the more power you want, the larger/heavier/expensive it will get. The Asus gaming series, which nice and balanced, is not sub 1k. If you want power, you'll have to pay for it, and it comes closer to 1500$ than sub 1000. I am not a fan of IBP or Cyberpower, as there's better laptop boutiques out there. Maingear (New Jersey iirc), Mythlogic (free display calibration, based in Michigan / Wisconson area). Avadirect (huge parts selection, Ohio), Eurocom (Canadian), even Origin, just to name a few.
The Nvidia 750m is actually the minimum you need, and can come in a smaller form factor, as small as 10-11" displays, which can be lighter. There's a variety of models it comes in as well.
http://anandtech.com/tag/mobile is a nice place to look for comparisons, and particularly you'll see the actual benchmark results here:
http://anandtech.com/show/7287/analyzing...-laptops/3
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-...130.0.html
Buying laptops is all about compromise, and you'll have to consider what you want most: Power (Will be more expensive, less portable), Budget (cheaper, decent enough, but no power or portability), or Portability (Ultrabooks, can be sub 1k, but more potentially more expensive), and find the sweet spot that suits you best.
I mentioned thermal throttling before, and I will do so again. Laptops with poor venting will overheat, cook themselves, and not perform well. Asus does a good job here, the Clevo based models all do well, but MSI is known for having poor thermal design.
Basically if you want power and are willing to pay a little more, get a clevo based model such as from Mythlogic / Avadirect/ Eurocom, with a nvidia 780M, and ideally a solid state drive. Asus gaming series is quite nice as well, but they do not offer the highest power GPU (780m), but do offer nice aesthetics and a complete package with build quality too. If you want portability, get an Asus Zenbooks (or other ultrabook), but they usually lack gaming power. I chose the 11" Clevo's with 750m's, lots of power for their resolution, but lots of portability too.
Clevo mythlogic review
http://anandtech.com/show/7250/mythlogic...7sm-review
Zenbooks, get the Prime if you are getting the UX31A.
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook/
The UX31A's small, sleek and about 800$ at amazon right now, and utterly gorgeous. That's the go to laptop for portability. Last gen CPU, but you get a price discount for it. Everything about it is top quality though.
Looking forward to the Zenbook refresh that's coming up.