Ok,  I finally, gave in to temptation and put an order for a new notebook, better than gambling the money away lol  What pushed me over the limit is whenever I play max payne 3, I have lots of downloads going off those crappy http sites and when it finishes downloading at slow speed and write to hdd, it crashes my acer notebook and reboots.  I just cant live like this anymore so I went shopping online...

This is the one I ordered:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Alienware-M17X-R4-nVidia-GTX-680m-2gb-CUSTOM-8gb-M4-256gb-SSD-1TB-NEW-/330771826149?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item4d038985e5#ht_2010wt_1272
for US $2,598.00

As usual paypal screwed me over with fx rate.  AUD/USD is 1.05 as of today 31/7/2012 and they only gave me 1.01, the difference in dollar terms is almost enough to pay for the customs. F@#king paypal C#$ksuckers!!!

U might wonder why I  chose these, specs, well I did a lot of reasearch, 8gb ram is more than enough, 256gb crucial ssd to make windows fast (nothing worse than slow windows), I only play a few games at once so thats where it will get installed, 1TB 5400rpm is for storage.

"Since most 3D software is limited by the GPU and Intel's current product line-up sports high efficiency (performance per MHz), the average consumer will already be very happy with the cheapest variation."
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-M17x-R4-Notebook-Review.75292.0.html
The review also says the GTX 680m beats GTX 675m by 50%


What I did not like about the specs from reading is that it has a very reflective screen and high levels of fan noise.    I guess I will find out in a few days time.

Here is a review
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/alienware_m17x_r4_2012.aspx

It has the best graphics card gtx 680m for notebook
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-GeForce-GTX-680M-vs-Radeon-HD-7970M.77110.0.html

I could have got the 7970m version of the alienware with better processor and more ram for the same price, but I read about the amd enduro switching not working whereas I have got nvidia's optimus on my acer, so I know it works for sure.  The enduro technology was trying to emulate the optimus whereby if you are not using your graphics card, it will switch to the onboard intel graphics automatically to save power.  The GTX 680m is less power hungry than 7970m so since Australia has this bull$hit carbon tax, I want to save money on electricity ha ha

Talking about saving, I saved so hard to buy this the notebook, its like I photocopied all my university textbooks by borrowing from library or lecturer and standing in front of the photocopier for hours, just to save AUD $140 per book, books are so f#$king expensive these days, I remember my undergrad days when I thought the AUD 69.95 books were expensive, now they are like more than double the price with the same crap.  I even cut down my gambling,  I only have 50 bucks left in my online lotto account and I did not even bet on a single olympics event!.   I also just did my tax return and the stinking flood levy took a chunk of tax out of my pay.  If I had that money, I could have upgraded my computer with better specs.

If you are like me in Australia, and are thinking of buying a notebook from America, then you need to pay GST when it gets delivered, I started this post in whirlpool so you can read all about it.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1959627

I will document the process in the post so everyone will know what happens the moment the notebook lands in Australia.  You have to pay GST on the shipping costs.  Despite 10% extra cost, you will find that you will save heaps (at least $500 AUD on high end notebooks on the after shipping and Australian taxes price) compared to buying it via Dell website or at JB Hi Fi local shop.  Also, the Dell website forces you to take expensive things you don't need ie I just want the base 3610 processor but their minimum is 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM and I just wanted 8gb of ram, so you will pay a couple of hundred here and there for things you don't need with no option to downgrade which is why America is the best place for buying powerful computers where everything is customisable.  U only need to buy a power cable for the power brick, and on ebay they only cost $4 AUD with free shipping here http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130506113702&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT#ht_2772wt_1140

I once made the mistaken belief of buying in Asia to save money because I was thinking Taiwan/China makes all the parts, so transport costs can be saved, but low and behold, the HK price was heaps more expensive than buying via ebay from America.  Same goes for Lowyat in Malaysia, they dont have the top end models available.

I can now see why Acer is the no 1 brand in Asia because it is cheaply made so it can sell cheaply to the masses.  They do not cater for gaming as evidenced by my mid priced Acer in front of me where the overheating of the GT540 graphics card fried the most important keyboard keys E D and C and the harddrive had indications of failure shortly after purchase.  The heat on the Acer aspire 5750g keyboard when playing max payne 3 is enough to fry an egg!

 I don't bother repairing notebooks as the cost can go towards a new notebook and the repair centres are all out of the way in the middle of nowhere here in Australia and I have to take time off work to get there and another day to collect it.  Plus I don't want to waste time backing up important documents/wiping the harddrive etc prior to getting it repaired.

Also, using my Amex in Asia is a pain because they charge hundreds of dollars to convert to the local currencies for expensive purchases and give crap fx rate.  There is no way I will do a cash withdrawal on my credit cards as the interest in Australia on them is astronomical and they charge interest during the month and and a half billing cycle till the amount gets paid in cash.

If you are in Australia, the best place for buying USB or SD cards etc i.e.smaller computer equipment, is http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/
Wait till they have a special eg they have $10 shipping cap so today I bought a keyboard vacuum (its very dusty where I live), JoyFlash 16GB SD Card Class10, Panasonic earphones (I buy these annually for hygiene reasons, don't want itchy ears or neck ha ha) for only 34 AUD inclusive of shipping.

If any of you are wondering what happens to all my old gaming notebooks eg my Asus G73JH, my wife's notebook power adapter brick died so I let her use it, but then she wanted it for herself since her old notebook was 16 inch but the G73jh has such a nice 17inch screen, for watching movies.  So I bought another one, and that went to my mother in law...  I did buy a new power brick for my wife's old notebook but she didnt want it anymore so I will give it to relatives.

Ok enough bitchin, I was seriously considering this MSI GT70 0NE-276US
for USD 2,600 ie same price.  I had asked one of the ebay guys if they would stock it just 2 days ago when I first saw the ad on the MSI website, and it would have been available today to order.  It turned out they did have it today (link is below).  I did want it because it has antiglare screen, steel series keyboard, blu ray burner (I dont watch any bluray so i dont really need it) & new super ssd technology, and 4gb more ram (ie 12gb) but it looks fugly and cheap even though it has such good components inside.  The Alienware I ordered has 1.2TB of storage too.

On top of that, I do do a lot of study and assignments and my courses are very maths intensive so I need a normal numberpad with a full zero key.  The taiwanese makers such as MSI and ASUS always have a right arrow key that eats up half the numberpad zero key, this alone pisses me off so much that I would rather settle for lower specs for same price alienware, just so I can have a normal numberpad....

However, if you do not do much data entry on numberpad, the MSI with steel series gaming keyboard keys, is definitely a good option.  They also have a 15inch version which you can get from the same ebay site below for 2,000 USD.

http://www.msi.com/news-media/news/1458.html
http://www.msimobile.com/level2_productlist.aspx?id=6

•	Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM Processor
•	Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit
•	17.3" Full HD Anti-reflective Display (16:9; 1920 x 1080)
•	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M discrete graphics (DDR5 4GB VRAM)
•	Accelerated performance with MSI TDE Technology
•	Full-color programmable backlit keyboard by SteelSeries
•	Killer Game Networking
•	MSI Cooler Boost Technology
•	Dynaudio Premium Sound Speakers with THX TruStudio PRO™
•	128GB SSD + 128GB SSD RAID + 750GB(7200RPM)
•	16GB DDR3 1600MHz system memory
•	Blu-ray Disc burner
•	USB 3.0 for high speed data transfer
•	HDMI 1.4 (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output
•	Built-in 720p HD webcam
•	Gold flashed audio jack ports with amplifier
•	802.11 b/g/ n Wireless LAN with Bluetooth

U can get it from ebay here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-GT70-0NE-276US-17-3-Matte-Core-i7-3610QM-NVIDIA-GTX-680M-4GB-Gaming-LAPTOP-/160855872756?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item2573c1d4f4#ht_6731wt_1272