We did swap out the 1TB HDD for a 500GB SSD for about 140 bucks (drive and clone kit.)
It's thinner than his 2010 15.6 ROG (still works!) and he's happy with it.
I took the plunge and got one as well.
Must have:
- 960M or 970M.
- Cannot exceed 5 lbs. Prefer something around 4 lbs.
- Prefer 14 inches, but 13-15.6 are also acceptable.
Good to have:
- SSD (at least 256GB). HDD is also fine.
- 1080P screen is good enough. Does not need QHD or touch screen.
- Good quality and design.
- < $1500 will be ideal. $2000 is the maximum.
Current candidates:
- New Razer Blade 14 (2016): Good quality. But the price ($1999 + tax) is a little high 
- MSI GS40 Phantom: My 1st choice for now. I saw some reviews saying that the fan is too loud though.
- Gigabyte P34Wv5: a little cheaper than GS40 but someone told me that Gigabyte has poor quality control.
Any suggestions will be highly appreciated!
Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic