Which of these two laptop is great for what I need?

[Ryou-kun]

ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop
http://www.amazon.com/G53SW-XA1-Rep..._2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351456572&sr=8-2&keywords=G53

OR

ASUS Republic of Gamers G53SX-AH71 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Game..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351415909&sr=8-1&keywords=G53

I'll be using it for college, light gaming, multitasking such as Animation, Programming Video Games (Syntax) and etc. I also use it for entertainment such as watching movies/videos
Do you think 8 pound laptop worth carrying around the college campus? I mean I don't mind the weight if the specs are worth it.

(BTW how heavy is 8 pound?)

 

[darrpara]

ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop
http://www.amazon.com/G53SW-XA1-Rep..._2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351456572&sr=8-2&keywords=G53

OR

ASUS Republic of Gamers G53SX-AH71 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Game..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351415909&sr=8-1&keywords=G53

I'll be using it for college, light gaming, multitasking such as Animation, Programming Video Games (Syntax) and etc. I also use it for entertainment such as watching movies/videos
Do you think 8 pound laptop worth carrying around the college campus? I mean I don't mind the weight if the specs are worth it.

(BTW how heavy is 8 pound?)

8 pounds is roughly the weight of a (US) gallon of water. So, fairly heavy to lug around

 

[T_K]

My 5.5lbs T520 can get cumbersome to carry around one-handed due to the distribution of the weight. The T420 was about a half pound lighter, but took up less planar space and was quite a bit more convenient. I'd say up to about 6lbs in a 15.6in is the limit for one-handed rapid relocation and convenience factor. Up to maybe 6.5lbs one could come up with reasons for trading the afformentioned advantage for slightly improved hardware specs, but after 7lbs, it's all or nothing.

My point being, neither of those options is going to be light enough to have the benefits of a <6lbs laptop. Just get the one with better specs.

 

[fuday]

I thinks these two laptop are too old, you'll find more better choice now. Look at this page, for your price range, I recommend lenove y580, if you like a light laptop, you can put your eyes on ultrabook, it also has some good choice for gaming.

 

[HaX]

if your gunna stick with asus, try looking at the Asus G46VW. it's 5.5lbs and a 14incher w/ gtx 660m. it's due for release in december if you can wait that long. also, keep in mind the launch resolution is a 1366 x 768 anti-glare, but reports are stating that a 1600 x 900 14" display is on the way.

 

[Pylon]

The weight also depends on your bag. If you have a messenger bag, you definitely DO NOT want to lug an 8lb laptop. My 5lb 14" Dell E6410 already hurts my shoulder a lot when I have to lug it (hence I mostly just carry a 0.7lb Nexus 7 tablet now).