About to return my G73 to Best Buy. Should I try another one?

After i looong night of testing out the laptop, i'm abou to head out and return it. Unfortunately, it looks like I got one of the bad ones I've read about. Out of the four games I tested (Split Second, Starcraft 2, Metro 2033, and Sonic Racing) none of them ran without a crash within 5 mins. I've tried various drivers and tweaks as well as tested the GPU and CPU temps (which both seemed normal by the way) but I couldn't successfully play any of those games. I'm really bummed about it cause I actually dig the laptop (size & spec wise). Should I try out another one and hope for the best? Is there a way I can tell if I'm getting a good one without testing it out?

 

No way to tell. Its a complete gamble with far too many problems. If i were you id look at the MSI or Clevo offerings. You seam to already know about this so i dont think our oppinions will help you since in the end youre the one making the choice.

 

Give the G73 another chance. You have 14 days to return it.

 

That's a tough call. It took me 2 returns to get a good and stable g73. However, you can't beat this machine's price for the performance you get when you find a good one. I would give it another go until you find a good one or until your 14 days are up. At this point, trying again couldn't hurt because either way you're going to have to pay a 15% restocking fee.

 

I specifically asked about the restock fee when I purchased my G73JH and I was told that there would not be a restock fee - I was specifically concerned about getting a LG panel over an AUO panel - I ended up with the AUO after all, and I didn't see any of the issue that other threads talked about, so I kept mine.. No complaints here!!!

To the OP - Good Luck in your decision whichever you do, you're going to find issues with any computer - there are no PERFECT gaming laptops - IMHO - Almost all "gaming" laptops are plagued with heating issues - The gaming machine my company sells is 800$-1000$ more expensive then the ASUS and it is not immune to heating issues -

The G73 is a great machine - IMHO - and I would definitely recommend you give it a second, if not third chance..

In Peace and Agape,
Trav....

 

Thanks for the advice. The good thing about this is I dont have to worry about a restocking fee as I'm reward zone silver member at Best Buy. In the long run I doubt I'll try to get another one. It just seems as too much of a hassle to continually return the laptop in hopes of getting a good one. The issues I'm having aside, it does seem like a great laptop, especially for the price, and i'm happy for those that have a working one.

 

good thread. i may return the G73 I got yesterday also.. i knew it was big... but come on.. its too big to transport..

The other advantage of a Silver member is 45 day return policy on EVERYTHING..

 

Return it and try again. My friend had returned it 3 times before he decided to just deal with the lcd led bleed.

 

Anything marketed as a desktop replacement tends to be on the large size.
But comparatively, its only about 650g heavier than the 15 inch Sager NP8150 with battery.

So you need manlier arms.

 

oh, for sure i do. got bad shoulders, joints, etc... not even 40 yet god dammit.. and with my new 3 month old, its really giving my arms a beating.. i gotta get back into weights...

 

I'd give it another shot. It's a great notebook, if you overlook it's few flaws. And for the price, and considering the "improvements" of the next gen hardware (not much!) you'll be set for years ... Look at the g50 laptops, they're about 3 years old, and still play most games quite well. And we've had some huge increases in GPU power since then ... but not so much lately - the 4870m isn't that much different from the 5870m, or the 6870m ... so you should be good for a long time.

Consider the cost per year on a $1000 laptop - crazy small, if it lasts a long time. So yeah, you could get something else, but over the - let's say 3 year - lifespan, you've only spent $330 or so a year, or $25/month for a state of the art laptop for year 1, and high-midrange for year 2-3.

Or you could buy a new $400 beater that plays games on low every year.

Even when the GPU is garbage, you'll still have a big screen you can use for a great workstation.

... and resale value after a year of ownership will still be high.

 

I take it to and from school three days a week for 6-8 hours each time, its not so bad.

lol