Best laptop for HD editing?

I shoot in HD, full 1080p but my current pc can't handle the editing process once the project exceeds a few minutes. So I was wondering which laptop should I buy. And it would be great if I could keep it under $1500. Should I buy alienware m15/17x? Or asus g53/g73 models? Any other models that you have in mind? And one of my techie friends keeps telling me not to get an asus. Is it true that they do not last very long?