Laptop purchasing

[Somebody Else]

So, my current laptop has gone and rendered itself a useless heap of junk. Shame, it was only just over a year old.

Anyway, I'm a performance laptop kinda guy - I like my fast processors, big graphics cards, screens &c.

I would get a laptop, but my situation demands something a little more portable (though, essentially I want a desktop replacement)

I've been on Dells, but they keep dying on me - they don't seem too reliable.

I've had all sorts of things recommended - IBM/Lenovo for the reliability, ditto HP. A friend of mine reckons Rockdirect (or something like that) would provide the sort of power I'm after, he also recommends Asus (though, a computer techie I spoke to isn't so keen on them). Alienware I know to be quite beastlike too - but they're generally far too gaudy for my tastes.

What I'm after is a maker of reliable, understated, reliable laptops that will blow the socks off anything I throw at them. Any suggestions?

*N.B I'll be in Hong Kong in a couple of months, so something that I can acquire there would be handy - cheaper and so forth, nay?