Gamers, by definition, enjoy playing video games. Some of them, contrary to popular wisdom, also like to leave the house now and then. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, these two activities are no longer mutually exclusive.

The solution I'm referring to is the gaming notebook. These are the new breed of performance machines which look and act like regular notebooks but are blessed with high-powered graphics chipsets to enable them to churn out high frame rates in today's demanding 3D games.

Results do vary, of course, so we've rounded up three machines from Mighty Ape which roughly cover the mid-to-high segment of the price range to see what features they offer and what sort of performance you can expect from them.

The Notebooks

The three machines we managed to get hold of range from $2,099 to $4,299 (NZ). There are not many notebooks under $2,000 worthy of being labelled a "gaming" machine, however on the other end of the stick the sky is the limit - I think we scored a good selection here though.

Check out the specs for the notebooks here, then we'll have a closer look at each one before moving on to the performance testing:

Acer Aspire 5740DG 3D Notebook

Despite being the cheapest of the three notebooks here today, the Acer Aspire 5740DG has one feature the other two don't: a 3D-enabled screen (complete with glasses). Whether this tickles your fancy or not is personal preference, but it's worth mentioning at least.

Powering the 5740DG is an Intel Core i5 520M dual core processor running at 2.4GHz (or up to 2.93GHz in Turbo mode), 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory and an ATI 5650M 1GB graphics chipset. A lot of games these days are starting to take advantage of quad core CPUs however the 520M should be good enough in most situations.

If anything will hold this machine back it's the graphics chipset: the 5650M is a bit of a weakling, although this may be mitigated slightly due to the low resolution of the screen which will be less demanding graphically.

It is quite a light device though, weighing in under 3kg, plus you still get a respectable 640GB hard drive, an HDMI port and Wireless-N connectivity. All the other standards are present too - Bluetooth, webcam, multi card reader, and even a "Dolby-optimized" surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers (these actually sound better than your average laptop speakers, but you'll want to use a decent headset for any serious gaming).

The build quality is pretty good for an Acer, and the keys are light and 'bouncy'. The keyboard layout feels a bit claustrophobic because even though this is a relatively small unit, they've still included a full number pad - I was constantly having to look down at the keyboard to find the arrow keys and so forth, which isn't good mid-game.

Overall for $2,099 it seems like a really good deal, so it will be interesting to see how it stacks up performance-wise.

Gateway P-79

Next up we have the Gateway (remember them?) P-79, and a $2,599 has some promising vital statistics for a gaming machine. The large 17" screen has a 1440x900 resolution and is driven by a Core 2 Quad Q9000 quad core CPU running at 2.0GHz and a Nvidia GTX 260M 1GB graphics chipset.

Other notable specs include two 500GB hard drives, 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory, Blu-ray reader and an eSATA connection. The basics are here as well - Wireless N, HDMI port, webcam, card reader, and like the Acer, a slightly-above-average sound system.

Personally I think the P-79 is the most attractive looking unit of the three with a high-gloss black finish, however some may rue this fingerprint-prone design. Like the Acer they have included a full number pad, although the keyboard itself is bigger so it's not quite so bad. At a touch over 4kg it's also the heaviest machine in the roundup.

With more grunt under the hood I'd expect this Gateway machine to significantly outperform the Acer Aspire.

Asus G73JH

Last on the list, costing the thick end of five grand, we have the Asus G73JH. Part of their 'Republic of Gamers' family of products, the G73JH is an imposing and menacing-looking machine. Inspired by the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Bomber, Asus have designed this notebook with angular lines and a matte-black rubberised finish.

The cooling system particularly is quite neat - it's got intakes on the sides of the notebook and exhausts out the rear. This serves the dual purpose of not melting things next to your notebook (such as idly-placed fingers) and keeping the noise down as the fan noise is emitted from the rear of the unit so is less noticeable.

The horsepower is what really sets the G73JH apart though. Driving the unit is a powerful Core i7 720QM quad core processor running at a base speed of 1.6GHz (but two of those cores can clock up to a whopping 2.8GHz if thermal conditions allow), and a mighty ATI 5870M 1GB graphics chipset.

The screen is a massive 18" with a Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 - perfect for watching 1080P Blu-ray movies on as well as high def gaming. A massive 8GB of DDR3-1333 memory has also been crammed in, and the two 500GB hard drives are high-speed 7200RPM drives for added performance.

Despite having an 8-cell battery it is slightly lighter than the Gateway notebook, and again the keyboard features a full numberpad, which doesn't bunch things up on the bigger keyboard.

Without a doubt this rig should churn out some impressive frame rates - continue to the next page to find out.