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

agree...it is nice to have, but if there were tft options that would be great. some could opt for the higher, and some for the lower.

just wondering alienware masters - what would it cost to get a m15x to match this in internal specs and converage...does not have to match identically...but purdidam close.

 

The news keeps getting worse. Where is this warranty sticker located?

 

only 1 warranty sticker and its over the cpu heatsink, you have to remove it to change the cpu or the thermal compound on the cpu..
can be removed if very careful and using a blow-dryer to loosen up the glue..
although, someone had said earlier that the sticker in his g51j was perforated and tears very easily if anyone tries to remove it..

Q to resellers: i know you're authorized by ASUS to change the thermal compound and it doesn't void warranty, but do you replace the sticker when if gets torn while removing??
I ask this because when i finally do buy this machine, i definitely want the after-market thermal compound but dont want the sticker removed or torn as ASUS techs here in India would have never even heard of the concept of an ASUS reseller authorized to remove the sticker or for that matter names such as gentech,xoticpc,powernotebooks,btotech,etc..

Sidenote: its kinda annoying to type all resellers' names,but if i dont i feel guilty coz all of them have been great and helpful..
if there's one thing i really like about Americans is your general cheerful nature, even you're having a crappy day, you'l still be smiling and going have a nice day!
of course occasionally people get a gun and shoot other people, but that happens everywhere.
Heh that bought a funny mental picture in my mind of one the resellers coming and shooting me and saying, "thats what you get for not including my name"

 

Note I said they were lenient, i.e. they chose to service laptops despite broken/missing warranty stickers (this is not firsthand information, mind you, just what I remember from reading the forums). So, in a sense, the news keeps getting better.

The sticker is usually located on one of the 4 screws keeping the heatsink on the CPU. Since the CPU + GPU heatsinks are usually connected, this means there is no access to CPU + GPU without technically breaking the warranty.

 

CPU and GPU heatsinks separate in this machine.

just occured to me, this is probably the first of the g series with separate heatsinks, so is possible that they place two stickers this time, one on each?

 

all this sticker thing is on CPU, right, but if i wanted to change HDD could i do it myself (no stickers there)?

 

Yea absolutely, no stickers there

 

thinking of preordering this laptop.

But does anyone know if any of the US online laptop sellers will install traditional Chinese Windows 7 and change the keyboard to traditional Chinese keyboard?

It is important to me because I am from Taiwan.

thanks


p.s. also, how's powernotebooks.com as a seller? are they as reputable as XoticPc?

 

powernotebooks, xoticpc, and gentechpc have great reputations and you can trust them.
they will NEVER try to scam you.
and for the Chinese keyboard you can easily change it yourself. (all you gotta do is go to control panel -> keyboard section and touch some stuff, it'll take less than 5minutes )

 

From everything I have seen or heard yup....Donald has been posting in this thread multiple times.

 

You could also order the Chinese keyboard separately, e.g., from the ASUS eStore, possibly through the reseller, and get it shipped with the notebook. Not sure if the default Vista recovery for ASUS includes Chinese language, if so there shouldn't be a problem to reinstall it in Chinese.

 

I don't think Vista recovery for ASUS includes Chinese language nor any other languages for the whole windows system.
I was talking about the keyboard feature, you should look more into it (example: talk to Ken @ GentechPC, Donald @ Powernotebooks or Justin @ XoticPC)

 

Can't you buy it in Taiwan much cheaper? Hell, maybe they are making the laptop atm right next door to your apartment XD

 

A good way to check any reseller's reputation for customer satisfaction is to look them up a www.resellerratings.com.

 

The HP Envy has a locked multiplier at 7x on the 720qm and 9x on the 820qm which means that (on battery) you can't achieve speeds faster than 931mhz on the 720 and 1.2ghz on the 820. HP knows of this issue and isn't doing anything to change or correct it.

 

I fail to see how what you said is relevant to what you quoted? I was simply referring to the number of physical so-dimm slots on the motherboard

 

I lol'd.
10char

 

I can also vouch for Donald and powernotebooks.com--I just preordered my second laptop from them.

 

my bad guys, I read it as a potential purchase... I was just trying to caution against the HP ENVY.

 

i was thinking the same thing - being that ASUS is from taiwan (recognizing that it doesn't mean everything is manufactured there) - one would hope that taiwan at least has on par prices with the US.

 

I think you need 1080p with 5870....

 

Do you think this laptop is worth buying if I own a gateway thats a yearold with 2ghz c2d, and a hd2600 gddr3?

I can play all games med/high fairly well at 1024x600. 30-100.

Should I preorder this laptop and what should I expect for performance gains in games? will it run 2x faster or 4x faster and will the 5870 and i7 be enough power to play future games for the next 3 years?

the big question is, is this laptop ahead of its time or is it simply just another rehash of old technology?

opinions?

 

From a GPU/CPU standpoint its the most future proof laptop that you can buy right now. Missing some features that some people need/want and no USB 3.0 but few have that quite yet.

 

The jump in technology isn't really there in the G73. With the exception of the ATI 5870.

The I7 core processors aren't new and have been out for awhile but, that's a good thing. People for the most part love them. You don't want to be taking a risk with a new tech that no one has tested before in the public. Also, you can expect I7's to get better as we go. The Intel Core 2 Duo's and Intel Core 2 Quad are no longer going to be made and are as good as they'll get.

Games these days are more dependent on the power of your graphics cards as opposed to your CPU. Several years ago you needed both a strong CPU and GPU. ATI cards do tend to still rely on CPU's get get better performance but, the I7 core processors have your back on that one.

Overall, if you need or want a new laptop this seems to be a good one to look into. I would however wait for it to be released. From what I've read ASUS is pretty notorious with heating issues on laptops. As was the case with the W90 that was actually pulled from sales market. So wait to see what others have to say after they get it. You don't want to get a laptop that's gonna over heat and crash all the time.

 

I agree with Terreos. Since it sounds like you're on the fence. If you can, play it conservative and wait a month or so until real users get thier hands on the G73. Then, you'll know if its right for you. This laptop has had no formal review and the new ATI GPU looks promising but we are just going off of ATI's own benchmark data.

 

I just noticed that all the G73 resellers that offer the I7 920XM upgrade seem to be charging the full retail price for it, what do they do I7 720QM that orginially came in it? That CPU is worth about $364 on its own, do they include it with the laptop? Or do they keep it and that is considered the price for the labor of swapping the cpu's out. Thanks.

 

No, I would not say the G73JH is just a 'rehash' of old tech, and it will be considerably faster than your current notebook, with the ability to play most all games at 'high' settings.

The W90 was actually very good with temps, and this was not the reason it was discontinued. Since thermal management is a current point of Asus's G73JH marketing (and also based of iaTa's CES findings), I anticipate the G73 will run equally cool.

I agree, if you are 'on-the-fence'..... no need to be an early adopter..... give it some time for the reviews to come in. On the otherhand, if you want this notebook badly (you do, don't you, LOL!), you better get in line FAST!

 

Very good point!

Though not just specific to the G73, I have queried this same issue with some of the resellers here, and YES, they keep the original processor, without giving credit. Perhaps some of the resellers could elaborate on this further for us, because I personally do not understand this. This also seems to be the policy with ALL upgrades..... SSD's, HDD's, etc.! Yes, even though you pay full retail for your upgrades (on top of the base model price), the reseller keeps your original/replaced components.

And if this is considered the cost of labor, well darn, give me my credits, ship me my upgrade components, and I'll do the labor myself, LOL!

 

Really? When I first heard of the ASUS W90 I was very excited to buy one. However, that window of opportunity had long passed me by. When I tried to find out why it was no longer available all I ever read was about heating issues. What was the real reason?

 

its just them trying to pocket some extra money wherever they can, just like every other american business. if you dont fall for it, eh, no sweat off their back, but if you do, they'll gladly take your extra money

 

another reason to order the base config and upgrade yourself

 

LOL! Well, I did not fall for it, and I carefully choose where I do my business!

 

It was more related to driver support issues, initial defects of the 4870 cards, and massive RMA's. Read and inquire within the W90 thread (Darn, I now wish I had not deleted over 1600 post there), and overall, I think you will find current owners are pleased with the temps. I had three W90's, and temperature wise, I was amazed.

 

I'll have to check that out. Thankyou. Just wish I knew that sooner so I would've pursued finding one a bit longer.

 

Actually, my last readings there, some of the guys have made very significant strides with that notebook..... seems things have turned to the good, and many issues resolved for the most part.

 

Now you're just making the pain of not owning one all the more bitter sweet. That's a real shame though. For what it seems if it wasn't pulled from the market it would likely be a great seller right now.

 

striker,

what the heck were you doing with three w90s??? do you have 6 hands snd three sets of eyes ?!?! hmmm....

 

LOL! Agreed scook9!

All one really need do, is figure a way around that darn CPU warranty sticker! When there is a will, there is a way! LOL!

 

I've been looking at the Asus W90 review here: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4917&p=2

In my humble opinion, the W90 has slightly worse cooling than the G73 will. The W90 has 3 fans yes, but that is because it has two high end graphics cards. With the G73 having just the 5870, I believe two fans will be enough. The G73 may have less vents, but that is easily solved by mods. Finally, the two vents at the back speak wonders for this machine. Seeing as the W90 did pretty well in terms of heating, I'm not going to get worried about the G73.

Sorry if I've repeated what someone else had

 

If you REALLY want one, there is a nice one on ebay right now with a bunch of upgrades and 2 years left on the warranty. 2 days left on the bid...

 

Ahhhh, it was really a super buy for the price, and now it's finally evolving! I think you are correct..... if not for the original 'snafu's, yes, it would still be a great seller today!

 

+1........

 

I would bid on the one on ebay, but an 18.4" model just seems to unwieldy to me!

 

Ahhhhh yes, but this is yet to be seen. I too, have very high hopes for the G73 cooling!

 

Yep, it was BIG, but one of the most aesthetically pleasing notebooks, I ever owned..... awesome at the helm!

 

Man, you're right. I just looked at the pics and that thing is BEAUTIFUL! Such a shame it was launched with issues that weren't fixed until they pulled it. It could and SHOULD have been a huge success. Do you still have one of your 3? And why in the heck did you have 3 of them!? haha

 

Hi folks, i'm proud to be a member of this wonderful forum. I have been reading topics and news for a long time..
Actually, i have a question, i use a Toshiba notebook with creepy Intel Gpu As most of all know, its not a gaming notebook, so i decided to buy 1 several months ago, i changed my idea to not buy a G71gx for some reasons... But now, I'm even more confused because you know release time getting longer?? And maybe Fermi Mobile Gpus will arrive soon.. i just want to have a directx-11 gaming notebook like most of you do ..., some of my friends having fun with their Hp dv7 CoD MW2 Lan, But i sometimes can't even enjoy when watching some youtube videos, Laggs like hell at HD (when i use their notebooks, i just can't leave from in front of them its another story ^^ )
So what should i do? I don't know if it comes to Germany, at least (live in Czech Republic) If yes, when will be release in Europe? Or it will take so much time so i can just go and buy a dv7 or someting.. And We have information that Fermi will release soon, and what about mobile Fermi?? Next year? Or this summer? Thx for your attention

 

NO, LOL!

Actually, it was 4..... three RMA's, and the fourth I didn't even unbox, but sold it immediately to a fellow NBR member. So anyhow, I played with 3 of them, and temps were outstanding on all.

 

The cooling in both the w90 and g73 is simple to understand, one set of fins/heatpipes and fan per heat producing element. In the g73 you have 1 CPU and 1 gpu, so 2 fans and vents for them. In the w90 there were 2 gpus and 1 CPU so 3 fans and so on. The cooling between the 2 models will most likely be about comparable. Maybe slightly better gpu cooling as the w90 gpu cooling left muh to be desired with that one long heatpipe and a pretty simple plate on the actual cards

 

Exactly. The W90 had vents in the back as well, so was ridiculously hot air coming out from behind? (euphemism intended )