[the_tyrant]

As you have mentioned that you travel a lot with your laptop, I would recommend a smaller machine

I am a student who goes to school every day with a laptop, and I have to say, moving down from a 15" to a 13" does wonders for my back

Personally I use a Fujitsu. I 100% recommend them. They are extremely reliable, with great hardware design. My TH700 is great! It is a touch screen 13 inch device, and I have to say, the touch on the fujitsu is 100x better than that on my old HP touchsmart. It's fingerprint scanner is the best that I have ever used, much better than the one on HPs and Toshibas. Most of all, many Fujitsu devices are completely modular, for example I usually remove my CD and replace it with an empty drive bay to save weight, but I can also plug in a battery, hard drive, etc.
Fujitsus are not really built for hardcore gaming, but I recommend them nonetheless.

My dad uses an Alienware, and he loves it. He uses the 11 inch model, he likes it (mainly because he wants to rock the "Cool dad" image), it is much better for gaming than mine, and I would recommend that you give it a look if you are a serious mobile gamer.

Since you travel a lot, DO NOT get a 17 or 19 inch device, its great for gaming, but it breaks your back.