First thing that comes to mind when talking about gaming laptops is the AlienWare M11x.

My older Alienware laptop holds up pretty well I must admit. Though it's basically a folding desktop. I'd never actually take it out or use it as a typical laptop. It's a tank and the battery needs to be charging all the time it's in use.

There are some good ones, but they're usually pretty pricey. 

Mine is a Entertainment laptop and can run crysis on high. 

My ASUS runs fantastically. I can run any modern PC game at max settings while maintaining a great framerate. It only cost me $900

With gaming laptops, you always have to keep in mind the performance:battery life ratio. 

• Low Performance = High Battery Life
• Average Performance = Average Battery Life
• High Performance = Low Battery Life
  

 
Yes, but they are probably more expensive then a desk top of equal power.  Also, most aren't up-datable.  Even the ones that claim to be.  Usually, in my experience, there are a few components that can't be upgraded with out major rebuilding of the device.  So eventually that lp will become obsolete at the very thing it was made to do.   While a tower  can be easily upgraded, rebuilt and customized to your heart's content. 
 
Battery power is a common complaint too.  So is heat.  Generally desk tops are better for gaming due to the wide variety of options.  LPs are great for mobile purposes.  Traveling, on the go life, whatever.  But I'm not much of a out doors gamer.  So in a way I think that yes they are incompatible.  Doable, but maybe not the best way to game.  Considering all the draw backs.
 
Alienware and MS both have a large variety of "gaming laptops."  Just be sure to look into what components are updateable.  Which will give that LP a longer life.  Memory, video card, sound card etc. 

" With gaming laptops, you always have to keep in mind the performance:battery life ratio. 

• Low Performance = High Battery Life
• Average Performance = Average Battery Life
• High Performance = Low Battery Life
  

 At the moment most high end gaming laptops are in that last category. That means very good, sometimes even desktop like performance. However, expect an hour of battery life at most. If you get a gaming laptop with less powerful graphics cards though, you're going to be able to last a fair bit longer. How long you want your battery to last though is probably going to be the key factor in deciding what laptop you're going to buy.  I think the key thing you need to look for at the moment is a laptop supporting Nvidia's Optimus technology. This helps to converse battery life by switching off graphics cards on-the-fly when they're not used, and this is going to help battery life by a good margin. "

The other problem in general with performance laptops is weight.  They aren't generally the types of things you want to carry with you all day.

Asus and Alienware make laptops

My very expensive laptop fucking sucks.

" The other problem in general with performance laptops is weight.  They aren't generally the types of things you want to carry with you all day. "

" My very expensive laptop fucking sucks. "

Well I'm looking at an Alienware right now...
 
 Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
 CrossfireX™ 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
 4GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 2GB DDR3)
 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
 
Only $2,800...  

Yeah, my battery life is 2 1/2 hours. "

i dont think so

No. Any laptop that has powerful desktop like gaming performance has no business being a laptop since they are unusually large and have piss poor battery life. 
 
My Macbook Pro does an excellent job of playing games though. 

best gaming laptops = Asus

Spending close to 3 grand to get performance that still doesn't match a desktop is just silly. You can find laptops with the more standard "Entertainment" label that have discrete GPU  with fairly strong CPU and panels coupled with them, much better value then getting something with the "gamer tax".  On the other hand you can spend a fraction of that, build a desktop and enjoy more then adequate performance. 

My friend has a Alienware. He has Crysis and it plays at max settings pretty well.

Well, I need a laptop and I'd like to be able to play games and run them well. If I'm going to buy one I should go big, right?

there are such things, but you can get a MUCH BETTER desktop with the money you would spend on a gamming laptop. plus with a  desktop you can easily upgrade it and such

My wife got a laptop from her mother for work. I thought... What games can I play? Civ IV is my favorite along with Max Payne 2. Games.
 

Games I own that should run on my Wife's 4500 MHD laptop.

Good gaming goodness.

	1. Grim Fandango How about that.
	2. Deus Ex Why not? The laptop has 500gb of memory.
	3. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Sure.
	4. The Longest Journey Gotcha.
	5. No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way Haven't seen you in a while.
	6. Sid Meier's SimGolf Where's my sequel.
	7. Beyond Good & Evil A good one.
	8. Medieval: Total War A pretty old game, should play on the laptop.
	9. NASCAR Racing 2002 Season Not as good as 2003, but cool none the less.
	10. MVP Baseball 2005 One of the best ever.
	11. Madden NFL 2005 I haven't played a Madden game in a while. Roster sucks, but who cares. Maybe there's a mod.
	12. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
	13. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
	14. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
	15. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
	16. Sid Meier's Civilization IV

My Voodoo Envy runs Crysis pretty damn well. I suppose it should after spending $5000.

The Asus G73jh-A1 that folks have previously mentioned seems to be pretty decent while also not breaking the bank. I'd like to set up a desktop rig, but for me it's more practical to have a laptop, so I'm thinking of buying one of those myself.