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

As others have said, much faster bootup times (since a boot is never a sequential read), and faster loading times for any programs installed to the SSD.

For computers with more than one hard drive bay, keeping a small SSD as the primary OS drive and a large HDD as the general data/storage drive is a great way to maximize OS performance without paying a premium for a larger SSD that still won't hold as much as a big HDD.

 

ok, so my dilema is, I have a 1.5TB External HDD Exhibit A: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136470 so storage part isnt really a problem. Just not sure if its wise for me to commit another 220 to this machine just to speed up boot and shut down times and maybe install one or 2 games at most onto... and maybe MS:O 2007...

 

What I always say is that only you can decide if it's worth it or not. I'm the kind of user who has no problem hitting the power button and then wandering off for a minute or five while it boots (yes, I need to upgrade ), so while it would be nice to have faster bootup and app-loading times, it's something I consider a luxury, rather than an essential.

So the question is: do you want to pamper yourself?

 

well I am in a war zone right now

But all jokes aside, I really didnt understand the total benifits a SSD would give me thus why I asked for the input from you guys. Yes, I am an IT for the US Army, but we still use POS machines daily, and 95% of our issues are user errors (go figure )

 

It's also good to keep this in mind: SSDs were not invented for their speed, although that's a wonderful side-effect of SSD technology. SSDs were invented for you folks in war zones, since they can be used inside a rattling helicopter or humvee, or in the middle of an artillery bombardment, with no danger of crashing unless they take a direct hit (in which case, a crashed hard drive is probably the least of the soldier's worries).

As a side note, since you're IT, I'm sure you know, but be sure to clean your fans and heatsinks at least once a month...we've seen several of our higher-end notebooks that are in Iraq and Afghanistan take some serious overheating damage because their owners forgot to clean them.

 

Well first off, thank you for defending our country and for your service!

Secondly, an SSD is a "I will never go back" experience. I have the Intel SSD as my primary drive and don't even have a secondary drive installed in the G51J. I have a Western Digital Elements 640gb USB drive as my storage drive on the laptop, so what you have would work perfectly. Trust me, you will fit more than "a few games" on that 80gb drive. Pictures/Music/Video etc will go on your external anyway.

If you want raw numbers, they are on all the hardware sites (Tom's/Anandtech). WD Raptor 10k mechanical drives in a RAID 0 setup can't even come close the the read times of the Intel SSD if that tells you anything...

Just my opinion, but I will never use a mechanical for my O/S drive again!

 

Thanks I guess I gonna order it now... I was thinking to wait to see the actual look from CES to place my order.

 

Yea, I plan on taking it with me to work about once a month and pulling it apart to give it a thorough dusting. and funny thing would have it, I work for MEDEVAC too, but I never take my computer with me in the helicopters I think right now ill probably wait til the $/GB goes down a bit more.. wife would probably bite my head off

 

Why does Asus still bother with a touchpad on their gaming notebooks anyways? I was under the impression that they were their own OEM, and since they already give out a gaming mouse with each purchase, wouldn't it be more revolutionary or unique to add something like a gamepad or something below the keyboard?

 

Chicken!!!

 

I don't think so. For me, there will always be a time where I need the touchpad (Airport, meetings etc...)

 

Agree, your not always going to use your notebook for gaming. Its a multi-functional use as if your in the airport, just quickly browsing something or just want to be lazy and not use a mouse

 

As others have said, even though it's a gaming notebook, you're not buying it just for gaming. Much as people love to hate it, the touchpad really is the best input device for a computer. I much prefer trackballs, myself, but it is difficult to clean a clogged trackball on those old notebooks that have integrated ones, and if it were easier to clean, it would also be easy to lose the ball.

If I'm using a laptop on my lap, I know that I can't stand having an external mouse unless it's something like a Logitech Marble Mouse (and even then, it's just easier to use the touchpad).

ASUS makes it easy to turn the touchpad on and off, and I think that's the more important bit, in the long run, since that ensures people who have the computer on a table can use their mouse with no worries about palming the touchpad, while those who use it on the go can do so without having to juggle an external mouse

 

http://www.i4u.com/article-topic-10.html

These guys will be following the new Asus laptops when they are revealed at the show. Just a heads up.

Chris

 

WOW, as much as I wanna jump on this pre-order, I STILL have a really bad taste in my mouth from the whole w90vp fiasco. ASUS's support was just terrible. I am REAL hessitant to go ASUS or ATI again for that matter....

so convince me.

 

Convincing will be difficult as we know nothing outside the machine besides its specs. We will know more here in 3 or 4 days during CES when several users will get up close with this machine. Sense this is a brand new video card it will be hard to tell you 100% without a doubt there wont be some type of issue. However, ATI is usually pretty successful with there releases to date.

We all expect extrodinary things out of this machine based solely off its specs. Asus has had some recent troubles with not only the 90 series, but also lately with the G5 series with its heating and BSOD. This laptop was built on a chassis from the G72 model, which has solid design with decent cooling. Even with these issues, ASUS is still a top notch company for computers & multitudes of other computer components.

 

we'll probably know more tomorrow when a bunch of stuff gets leaked =P

 

What an interesting thread indeed!
Glad I found it for sure. I was considering an Alienware M17x, then I found out about a stuttering/hiccuping problem they apparently have while playing video, mp3s etc. During this research i also found out about this Asus Laptop, the G73JH-A1...
It sure looks incredible in paper and by now, it is my strongest candidate for purchase.
CES is only a few days away, reports on this incredible deal of a machine should start coming in, with those specs I doubt it would dissapoint, my only concern would be thermal management, but like I said, this should all be answered in a few days during CES
Congrats to those who ordered, to those who are headed towards a group buy discount, as far as I can see everybody is a winner with those specs and that bargain cost...
I spent a few hours reading this entire thread, lol, it sure got interesting!
Glad to be a registered member here now, I been reading here as a visitor for a long time, specially every time I am considering a laptop upgrade, whether for myself, my wife or my kids, this Asus lappy sounds very very impressive!

Jose.

 

Anybody know if xotic will accpet my G51J back if I returned it, and then just let me pay the difference between the two??? I shot them an email, but haven't heard back yet....anybody thinking of going this route as well???

 

You can send Justin a message here on the Forums and talk to him through there.

 

Just put in my pre order with Ken at Gentech... Ken has treated me very well in the past with the previous notebooks I have ordered from him and I will continue to be a loyal customer... I have been waiting for some time to order a new gaming laptop and i wanted to wait till Asus released a replacement for the G72 with an i7 cpu... this is what i have been waiting for

The only thing i changed is the ICD24 thermal compound. Everything else is as it would be from Asus.

 

!! Welcome to the party!

 

This might be a slightly dumb question, but when you order a SSD upgrade from a reseller, do they also give you the original magnetic drive that came with your notebook?
If not, why do people order SSD upgrades from resellers? Why not just buy an SSD which is usually the same price at places like newegg as the reseller is charging and upgrade it yourself?
Its not like changing hard disks voids warranty..

 

Purchasing a HDD upgrade from a reseller will help you save time due to the OS and driver installations that usually accompany with the upgrade. Most of us are probably tech savvy enough to do these ourselves, but for those whom are not or aren't bothered to put in several hours, then having a reseller do the work for you may be worth it.

 

hmm, i always thought they gave you the old HDD
Well then i'll upgrade myself.. i can sell off the old 500gb 7200rpm for about $90-100
and get a new 80gb SSD for $230-250

 

I was thinking along the same lines, except maybe making a passport style external so I can have it for my many travels so I dont need a power outlet for my 3.5" external.

 

LOL!

You know it's another 'early adopter' venture, just like the W90. I think I know, and have read those experiences, so there really is no convincing you here. You just have to be willing to take the risk again, and want it bad enough.

At least this time, it's a new DX11 SINGLE gpu solution, and you know that removes a little bit of this issues we experienced in the W90. I have a good feeling this go-round, and look at the price!

You want a G73JH real bad, don't you? JOIN US!

 

Hey striker, would you mind posting a copy of the email?

 

yea i would do that, but i already have 1 500gb Freeagent Go(2.5") and 2x1Tb Freeagent 3.5"

 

Question:

Has it been confirmed that the G73jh will be at CES?

 

Nope, I am fairly certain this would be against the rules here, and even if I did, I would have to sanitize portions of it. Some have already expressed skepticism to my earlier post, so what would this serve? I could post it, and it would still be met with skepticism. Believe me or not..... this is your choice. I think it will be better to wait for an official announcement of this, though it is already official in my mind.

 

its cool, i believe you

ati wanted to put 256 gddr5 with the 4870 but there were heating issues

im sure theyve lowered the voltage needed for the clocks required by now since its been a year

 

Info on this can be found if you search JohnBatDell's post.

 

ASUS G73JH-A1 - This is proving harder then I throught.

I find it a bit strange that Xotic will ONLY accept wire transfers for international orders.

"We apologize, but we do not accept credit cards or PayPal for international orders. We require payment via wire transfer. "

Is this the case for other resellers?

Any help would be great, thanks

 

There is nothing strange about it. XoticPC is a trusted business and it probably has something to do with currency exchange rates and extra international fees/rates.

 

The strange thing about it was that they had taken the funds out of my account by PayPal and then refunded back into my account today..

If you had the $$, why would you return them and then ask for a wire transfer?

 

This question should probably be directed at Xotic. Wouldn't that be the easiest way to get the answer?

 

It is getting more and more tempting to become one of the early adopters of this laptop. I guess it is good that I won't have the money I need until after CES.

 

To be honest, that probably IS a good thing! haha

Me on the other hand... It looks like I am going to be irrational and jump into this system that no one even know anything about yet. I have to get my ailing G51J back to ZipZoom for the RMA, so I guess that I am going "all in" for the G73 against my better judgment! No reward without risk, right?

 

all i am saying is that pc companies come out with newer models every few months with only a slight update to the previous model. The laptop the g60vx from best buy that i got on Win 7 launch date is now yesterdays news with this newer model and better cpu and video ram....

how so? i think that the money i invested in my laptop should not be degraded within two months. SO now i feel i am no longer having the best of the best.... I feel now that i need to go out two months later and throw away my asus g60 and purchase a newer model.

I think that the companies are updating just to force us to get the latest model. I am one of those folks that love to have the latest of everything from human clones to the latest octo-core mobile cpu's. And yes group purchasing by bringing together a group of people can be fun and can save money....

 

Youu folowed my experiances over there and all the fun we had.....granted its a single card this time. Maby, just Maby. TBH the cash isnt a big issue, got a sweet year end bonus from work....just dont wanna get burned again. Neither ASUS or ATI are shinning stars in my book at the momnent, and also...I STILL feel the reesellerts were somewhat complicit in that fiasco.......

For the guy that said ATI and ASUS have a good track record...try telling that to a w90 owner......

 

Thats just one book. It happens unfortunately, thats the way technology works Cant distort 2 reputable companies from one experience though.

 

I dont think you stand to lose much because if it does not live up to your expectations im sure you can unload it just as fast as you bought it ... Based on specs alone this machine will be in high demand for atleast a little while ...

 

I am not onna go into it again.....save to say the unit was continued to be sold after MANY MANY issues were reported with it. They knowingly continued to sell defective products. Thats all I will say about it.

regarding this lappy.....I just donno....

 

well I feel that ASUS learned there lesson on continuing to sell known bad units, Example is the G51J-A1. Discontinued already only 3 months after production date. But your choice is your choice, no one can make it for.

We can only provide the PEER PRESSURE!!!

 

Deescision would be easier if, instead of peer preasure, you all provided cash....

just sayin

 

Yea.... let me ask my wife as shes dropping the axe on my neck

 

I am interested in pre-ordering one of these as well but was curious about one thing. Most people here seem to have owned many of the recent gaming Asus laptops which I assume this model will be similar to, are they comfortable to game with on your lap using a chill mat? I tend to game on the couch while my wife sits next to me watching TV, so being able to game on my lap comfortably is a big deal to me.

 

if using a cooler yes, the hot air vents out to the left in the G5x series at least, not sure about the G7x series but I'm pretty sure. so its rather comfortable to game with.

 

I hope we see you as an owner wwoods!