Recommendations for a sub $1000 gaming laptop

I'm looking into buying my first Windows machine. I've owned nothing but Mac and cheap unix desktops. My current mbp is just a few years old and its time to upgrade and cash in on the tradein value of the mbp. I am looking for a below $1k laptop and will go with Windows just for the fact that I want to explore the larger library of games. (I've always been a console gamer so this is a new adventure for me.)

I'm going for a laptop for the mobility since I travel for work and I also want to use my computer away from my basement office. My home office already has dual monitors in place.

I was looking at the Acer Aspire 17inch but the battery life was pretty low (not like that is a big feature to me). If I do at least half of my laptop time in the home office (dual monitors), then do I really need a 17inch or should I look at better 15inch models?

Does anyone know of any worthwhile laptops coming out in Q4 2014?

@Qwikstreet:

17" laptops are really heavy as well, look at 14" or 15" if you need to lug it around everywhere.

You're not gonna get a "gaming laptop" for $1,000, more like a laptop that can play some games. You're better off saving until you have around $1,500 because you can get something far better with that extra $500.

The weight of a 17inch is a concern as well as the battery life and now I'm concerned of heat issues and deteriorating the life span of said laptop.

Now I'm just kicking around how much would I use this laptop on the go for gaming. If I'm not at my desk I can catch up with games on my tablet and console. I know I can build a better machine under $1000 compared to any laptop I could buy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IMTQ4BK/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The MSI GE70 pro is a pretty budget gaming laptop. It's a 17" gaming laptop with an 860m for the dedicated GPU and it typically runs right around the 1100 mark for the base model. It's not as thin or light as its more expensive cousin the GS70 but its specs are basically the same. This is probably the best bang for your buck.

-Byshop

I decided to build a desktop instead. Never built one except servers and cloud pods at work. I just bought an AMD FX8350 for under $150.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/qwikstreet/saved/kzwypg

Now to get the rest and sell my MacBook Pro to fund the rest.