I'm looking to upgrade my HP HDX18 that I've had for 4 years and am gathering some research to see what people recommend or have been using for music production on X2 and/or live performances.  I currently use my laptop to play synth live so I need something that can handle several VST's open at once.  I've priced out a few SSD's to upgrade my current laptop but figured I might spend the money to just buy an new one.  

Interested in the touch feature of X2 and looking forward to more features that Sonar could provide using multi-touch

The reservation I have from upgrading to Win8 at this point is all of my other plugins (Arturia, Rob Papen, NI, Kore, u=he, iZotope, etc) not being supported on Win8.  Although i think all the NI stuff works on Win8 except Kore

Any suggestions on ultra-fast laptops ideal for music production and live performance would be greatly appreciated.

thank you!

ultra-fast laptops ideal for music production and live performance would be greatly appreciated.

If by this you mean anywhere close to on-par with a fast desktop, you're looking at $3000+
Clevo P270WM is the shell that all highest performance custom laptops are using.

Clevo P270WM
discontinued and never made it to market there is another model that supposed to be coming its been pushed back for 9 months thus far

Clevo P270WM discontinued and never made it to market there is another model that supposed to be coming its been pushed back for 9 months thus far

 
Thermal issues?  

ya think?  why do they have to try to cram 2 680 video cards in there absolutely stupid. like the SBE processor isnt hot enough
even as an avid gamer (if and when i have time) i dont get the SLI BS..
 but yes litterally back to the drawing board due to heat
they were about to ship the new ones when Intel released the 3970X which is 150W compared to the 3960X 130W
i am like tell Tawain to stuff it.. who cares about the 3970X
so who the heck knows when we will ever see the new one.

::sigh:: used to sell a crap load of those monster laptops 

Thanks for the replies.  Yea, not really looking for super insane laptop.  I already have a 18.3 inch/9 lb beast. 

 Looking for a touch screen laptop to make full use of X2.  Wondering if even a supped up Ultrabook would work for music.  Maybe a convertible laptop?  And hey, running Star Wars Old Republic would be a nice plus too.  Budget $2,000