Advice on Laptop configuration

[gladius]

I need a laptop and would appreciate any advice on prebuilts.

Here are my requirements:
-My budget is $1200. I would go slightly higher if it made a big difference.
-I plan to buy something by the end of the month (August).
-I will play games on it. I play games like World of Tanks, TF2, Portal, and other such games. They need to run at a high framerate.
-I will use Office and other productivity apps. I will browse the web and watch Youtube videos, but I don't need to hook the laptop up to a TV or projector.
-I will occasionally use Photoshop, but I'm not a power user of that application and don't need to open giant files.
-I prefer a large screen - 17".
-Weight is not an issue. While I need a laptop so I can occasionally travel with it, I won't lug it around much, I just need to be able to use it in my living room w/o an external monitor.
-Battery life is not an issue, most of the time it will be plugged in.
-I like Dell, but am not averse to another brand.

Suggestions?

 

[wintermint]

$1200 can get you a lot. I would look at the sager notebook lines, they offer great performance/price ratio. This one starts off at $1100 already but it has a nVIDIA 560m and a 1080p screen: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8130-clevo-p151hm1-p-2973.html The rest starts off with nVIDIA 555m which isn't bad at all. I think the nVIDIA 555m will fit your needs just fine. Here's their sager line up: http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-clevo-sager-notebooks-ct-95_51_162.html Feel free to customize to your own liking.

I would recommend either i5/i7 because you want all the power you can get for your laptop. 4gb ram recommended but no more than 8gb. The rest is pretty much up to you because there's lots to customize like bluetooth, different kind of wireless card, etc.