There is only one legendary laptop that can run SSE or any HD games, and that's the Alienware m17x custom built, otherwise a desktop would be the only option
Sorry TM, but that's nonesense.
The M17x didnt even score higher than an average 7th place on the various top ten gaming laptop list this year. Even their own M18x is better, with more RAM, so the only one, it is not.
the Battalion 101 X7200 for example, has higher specs and does exceed the SSE requirements too. If any, I would say that one would be more suited for SSE than the M17x. (and that is incidentally the #1 on some of the lists for 'best of 2011')
But anyway,...
If the hardware is up to it, the game will run. And a crucial factor is of course also how you keep the machine tidy and performing well and up to date and such. But if the power is there, it should just perform.
Most laptops are indeed not really meant for gaming, but there are plenty of them that will do a good job provided they have the hardware to facilitate gaming and there are also those that are aimed at gaming specifically, though they are not that many and come at a greater price of course. But I've seen enough people play high end games on laptops too.
But when in doubt, the best thing to do is to try the demo!
http://www.shipsim.com/downloads/demos
Regards,
Fred