The issue with the G501 is that you can get a laptop with similar internal components for a fraction of the price, such as the Lenovo Y50 with the i7-4720HQ, 960M, and a 1080p IPS display. It starts at $900 for an 860M model, and considering the 960M is just a slightly overclocked 860M, you might not even bother with a 960M model. Even after you upgrade it with an SSD, you are still looking at $1000-$1100, compared to a starting price of $2000 for the G501. The Y50 weighs 5.29 lbs compared to 4.3 lbs for the G501, but is a one pound weight savings worth a $900 price premium? As for battery life, the Lenovo comes with a rather small 54 W-hr battery, but I have seen conflicting info about the G501. On the Asus website, it lists both a 60 W-hr and a 96 W-hr battery, while store.asus.com only lists a 56 W-hr battery. If it is in fact the 96 W-hr battery, that should give it a considerable advantage in battery runtime over competing models, but if it is one of the other sizes, then it won't be anything special.
Alternatively, you can stay in the same price range and get a laptop with drastically better performance. The Sager NP8651 comes with a 970M, which absolutely smokes the 960M, and has space for 1 HDD and 2 SSDs or up to 4 SSDs, along with space for up to 32GB of RAM, and the option to upgrade to a 4K display. It starts at around $1300, and even with a display upgrade, 16GB RAM, and an SSD, it will still be cheaper than the G501. It weighs 5.5 lbs; while not as light as the G501 or the HP Omen, it is still light by gaming standards and has *far* superior cooling. It gets about 4 hours of battery life with light tasks.