ASUS G73JH-A1 with ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 - Part 3

Hmm, I've already know a lot about this machine from reading so much. After a few months (if everything goes well), there shouldn't be any issues as far as the keyboard is concerned or any other issues that I have been hearing.

Besides whats already in most reviews, maybe add how well the touch pad is. Maybe compare to some others I guess. Umm.... O, I would like to know exact or close battery life. How long it last when just browsing and maybe watching a few youtube vids, how long it last when watching a dvd, and how long it last when playing a game or rendering (if possible), of course, I'm sure that was going to be added without me saying anything.

I dunno.. maybe all the programs that comes with it.

thats all I can think of. Thanks for taking the time to make a review for us

 

You don't want to be doing that. Disabling the page file is one of those "tweaks" that was more a myth than anything else. Many apps rely on being able to page out info to disk and will crash in the absence of a page file. These days, Windows does an excellent job managing memory without having to resort to user intervention in that area. Enjoy the laptop!

 

I do have a question about the thermal choices on powernotebooks. They offer a IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU FREE w/CPU Upgrade. I'm not too sure what this means? Are they offering for free if you choose something other then the 720qm?

 

Yes, you must upgrade the CPU for you to get a free thermal upgrade. The CPU is kinda a pain to get to thus the price increase.

 

Hi guys...i just received my tracking number from UPS and i dont have any idea on how to use it. Is it the status thingy or i need to check the quantum view. The quantum view is really confusing. Damn!!

 

I compiled a couple of PDF's for you buyers...hope you like it!


http://www.mediafire.com/file/hgdogzt3znn/G73Jh-A1info.PDF

http://www.mediafire.com/file/kozdn52kof0/G73Jh-A2info.PDF

 

I just go here, enter the tracking number(s) in the top edit box, and click the "Track" button.

 

Do i just need to check the status on the first page or need to go to quantum view?

 

Nice job! +1 rep! Just noticed though on the specifications page on both of them that the memory size can go up to 8GB, should be 16GB.

 

I've personally only used the status there - just the major scan points is a pretty good indicator of where the package(s) are.

I've never even seen the quantum view

 

Congrats on getting your system shipped! Many are envious! But do enjoy it! Has it been proven that thermal compound actually does reduce your core temps? I know in desktops it a big deal, but everything is so squished and close together, how COULD it make a large impact?

 

Thx mate! It all went so fast from Xotic PC! For the temp info, you need to check the benchmarks made by the owners. There are lots of info on them.

Thx a lot man, will check that out!

 

We should have a reseller appreciate day lol. Sometimes it seems they work much harder than Asus (this is sarcasm for those easily offended).

 

You are always in turbo mode, the i7 turbo mode. CPU-z reports on the CPU itself and not any software initiated Asus turbo mode. All mobile i7's are running a turbo mode and that's what it's refering to. If you removed Power4Gear and set the Turbo mode in your BIOS to normal, you have officially exnayed the Asus TT.

Imo, Murphy's Law explains you Vantage score (i.e. if there was a super G73 out, Murphy's Law would prevent me from getting it )

Q

 

when did you order your G73? I think all of us that ordered from xotic would like to know.

 

I've been looking everywhere and haven't found a definitive answer, so I hope someone here can help.

Do the various G73JH models (the A1 & A2 specifically) come with SATA 1.5Gb/s HDD or SATA 3Gb/3 HDD (so-called SATA-II)?

Everywhere I go, I see reference to the fact that they have SATA, but which SATA? Can anyone say definitively?

 

I mentioned that several times already but here it is for you:

Xotic PC - Ordered: 8th Jan 2010

 

Not true, the 720 is only capable of addressing 8gb of ram anything more and it won't see it.

 

I really thought RAM was mobo and OS dependent. The CPU really controls that?

 

The new icore chips access the ram directly, hence its CPU dependent. The older chips went through a memory controller so were OS/Motherboard dependent.

 

Damn, very good information! People considering possibly upgrading down the road need to know this! I myself was considering, but either way cannot afford the 820 . Oh well! Looks like 8gigs has to do...

 

New Member here--I have been looking for a laptop to game on out here in Iraq. I found it, I read about it, I was bummed it was not available right now.

Preorded today from Joseph from Xotic, got a nice cash discount and a little military discount, had to pay extra to ship it to an APO address.

I was told to expect it to be shipped out at the end of March.

Thanks guys for the good referral to Xotic and the few others mentioned many times. I went with Xotic because of thier good reviews and videos and I like thier service.

Hurry up time

 

Looks like my G73JH will here very very soon


Class: Priority Mail International Parcels
Service(s): International Parcels
Status: Out of Foreign Customs

Your item cleared customs in AUSTRALIA at 5:39 PM on February 22, 2010. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.



Detailed Results:

Out of Foreign Customs, February 22, 2010, 5:39 pm, AUSTRALIA
Into Foreign Customs, February 22, 2010, 5:14 pm, AUSTRALIA
Arrived Abroad, February 22, 2010, 5:14 pm, AUSTRALIA
International Dispatch, February 18, 2010, 9:41 pm, ISC LOS ANGELES CA (USPS)
Arrival
Electronic Shipping Info Received, February 16, 2010

 

They all currently have the same memory cap so i wouldn't worry too much lol.

 

Hey guys,
I had read that people were either getting Intel or Atheros WiFi cards in their machines.

I just switched to an Intel 6200, and the card I pulled was an AzureWave AR5895. I've got an X1.

if its been posted before in the 7 or 8 hundred previous pages associated with this machine, I couldn't find it.

 

The only problem I see is with the Shift key. Are you having other lag issues?

Like, if I type the word "This" in notepad, it shows up as "THis". Try it out.

Otherwise everything seems perfect with the keyboard.

 

The ARXXXX notation makes me think it's using an Atheros chipset anyway. But even if it is, that's one variation we haven't seen.

 

A common sentnce I type without correctingit looks like this.

 

I was inclined to think the same. Elswhere on the card it's listed as ATH-AR5895 which would also suggest the same.

 

Just want everyone's opinion who has had varying CPUs before of the new i7s...

In case I do order from Gentech and get some upgrades...

Is the 820 worth the extra cost in ANY WAY?

 

wow I hope this problem is addressed before I get my a1. What a mess!

 

Here, I'll type the same thing:

A common sentence I type without correcting it looks like this.

I'm not slow but I'm not a speed demon, either. You probably type faster.

-----------------------------------

And my WPM: 72...

286 points, so you achieved position 21612 of 236699 on the ranking list
You type 398 characters per minute
You have 72 correct words and
you have 2 wrong words

Results from http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/

 

I'm still unsure if the BD is reason for the delay as the Aus model has arrived with BD. Just seems odd Aus would be looked after before US.

As for the keyboard lag, I can't say I've noticed it on mine but I have spent most my time on it gaming. The only odd possible keyboard related thing for me is while playing MW2 I'll sometimes randomly go into the prone position without pressing the key, which for me is ctrl.

I'll try typing a bit on it tonight.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I will be putting in a section for the touchpad and performing a battery life test. My typical battery life test is surfing the Internet wirelessly with minimum screen brightness until the battery reaches 10%. The Internet surfing includes watching a few videos.

I tend to emphasize the keyboard in my reviews so expect a thorough run-down on that.

Yikes - I have been typing for a few hours on our G73 review unit and have not noticed those issues. I am running everything stock.

The answer is not that clear cut; rather, it depends on what you want to do with the notebook (do tell).

The difference between them in synthetic benchmarks (3DMark06 CPU Test) is less than 10%. That is not going to be a noticeable difference in the vast majority of applications and will not impact gaming to any tangible degree. Even for rendering . . . if it takes the i7-720QM an hour to render an image, it will take the i7-820QM about 55 minutes.

If the i7-720QM is not capable of running an application well, then in all likelihood the i7-820WM will not be able to either.

Go with the stock CPU.

 

720 clock speeds
2.8ghz single core
2.4 dual core
1.73ghz quad core

820's clock speeds
3.06ghz single mode
2.8 ghz dual mode
2.0ghz (I believe) quad mode

Its a nice improvement but if you can get the 920, you can overclock it asap until someone finds a way to increase frequency in the other processors using turbo mode or something.

EDIT: yea, just like charles mentioned, it depends really. But I'm thinking you will see more then a 5 minute difference...

EDIT: but imo, I would go with the 720 or the 920.

 

Finally! COngrats allan!

 

O right, I'm not sure if this was concluded yet but did anyone find out if a notebook cooler would help this machine since it takes air in from the top?

 

Yes it does. Get a large, single center fan unit like this:

http://www.thermaltakestore.com/cln0008.html

 

I was not surprised to see the third part of this discussion. There is already enough information for a book about G73.

Thank you for making a review, Charles!
Cant wait to read it

 

hey, thanks, Chris. It's been a long time, yeah.

What's bad is that I am having my FRACP exams (specialist) the following week. Should I be playing my new toy or stuying for my exams??.... tough choice

 

Yeah, I experience this almost more often than I experience it missing keys...

 

ah cool. thanks for the link.

 

If you get something like this can you use this on your lap? With a my first newborn baby on the way I need to game by the wife

This might be a redundant question, but people are saying "Laptops aren't for gaming blah blah" this looks pretty damn amazing for games. That is the ONE and only reason i'm buying this rig is for gaming. Ya'll happy with it for gaming?

 

SATA II

Definitive Q

 

Hey Evensen, there´s a cheaper one that I think the only difference is that it´s made out of plastic and not aluminum, reckon it would work fine too?

 

I thought that was just me but yah, That happens to me too and it can get quite annoying...im still getting used to the shifted arrowkeys

 

Same for me. You don't spend this much on a laptop to surf the web and type emails.

It kicks butt for gaming. Well happy with it's performance.

 

I just had to adjust to the keyboard style and flex. I spread my fingers out a little more, almost like cupping shape.. and adjust the pressure I use too, pressing harder perhaps but there is also a floating feel to it.. I can type pretty fast if I want to. But usually I'm thinking while I'm typing so I don't always type that fast. The last few sentences I've typed very fast though, without any problems.

A good test would be to type the same thing several times, so you can see if you still get the same typing errors once your fingers, palm position, and the pressure you use is learned.

I used to play piano/keyboards so I find it easy to adjust the pressure of my fingers typing. Changing the spread of my hands seemed to fix everything for me.

Evenson thanks for the cooler link. Reading reviews that sounds like a really good one. I'll prob grab from egg for ~ $16 more and get a new one though. $67.50 vs $51.30 refurb. The shipping is what hurts in both cases. Heres a link from a review of it:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=410&Itemid=66&limit=1&limitstart=4

My pacific breeze cooler sits behind the notebook with two fans that pull air downward, shooting it beneath the notebook body. That would just be sucking warm air from the exhaust vents on the G73JH so prob not very effective.

 

Ok guys, I finally found a fix for the random crackling noise in Win 7.

Here's are the steps :

1) Unistall the "Realtek High Definition Audio Driver" from "Programs and Features" in the control panel.


2) Goto http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false, check the little box and click next. And on the next page, download the Win 7 (64bit) Driver Version R2.42.


3) The most important part is to install the driver in compatibility mode to "Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)". To do this right click on the download driver setup, Goto "Properties" and click on the "Compatibility" Tab..After doing that just install the driver and restart your lappy.


3) After you restarted the comp, open "Sound" from the Control Panel. There should be 2 playback devices named "Speakers". The 2nd one is already set as default driver, so to make your sound better just Set the 1st driver as default playback device and after your done with that, just mute the 2nd "Speakers" device by going to it's "Properties".

Finally your "Sound" window should like this :


The Creative software won't work this method, so just uninstall them. They are kinda useless to me anyways.

Well hope this helps for anyone whose having sound problems with their G73s. Good Luck and Enjoy

 

No prob.

Awesome laptop for gaming. See my link I am adding below if you want to use the cooler on your lap.

Yes, this one.

http://www.thermaltakestore.com/cln0009.html

Plastic has less heat absorption properties, but I'm sure it's minuscule. The important thing is that the huge centered fan is the same and has the same CFM and noise properties. This plastic one will also be more comfy if you insist on using it on your lap.

I have the aluminum one, but never game on my lap, so ymmv.