Asus G73-A1 build quality

I am interested in buying an Asus G73, but I am a bit of a scratches/scuff marks freak so I am wondering if the asus is prone to scratching/scuffing under normal use (I am particularly worried about the rubberized palm rest, which, I believe may wore down in time).
Are there any other issues which I may be concerned about before buying this notebook?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Andrei Pavel.

 

Been using this machine for over four months now. The rubberized surface is good for avoiding smudges and finger prints. But can get scratched pretty easily. There will be discoloration of the palm rest with heavy usage...mine is already showing signs of it. Be careful about the hinges as well. The monitor is pretty heavy, and for one user (that I know of), the rubber coating started coming off at the hinges.

The other downside of having a rubberized coating is that its a very poor conductor of heat. Having an aluminum casing like the AWs (although more expensive), would have helped greatly in heat dissipation. As it is, many users are having sever issues with heat already.

 

That's pretty discouraging... I've been hearing mixed opinions on this matter. But since some have experienced discoloring/scuffing the rubberized finish certainly wears down with time.
Thanks for your input.
edit: Can some of you guys post pictures showing your G73's wear level? Thanks in advance.
edit 2: Again, I'm pretty confused about this. Some users had no wear-down problems whatsoever - quoting from youtube comments replies: '' @yatsumoto it does not scratch at all because of the rubbery texture.if u use ur nail, it will leave a streak but you can just rub it out again. '' ; '' @yatsumoto its the polar opposite. this laptop is almost impossible to scratch. seriously! the whole thing is rubberish, and even if something scratches, the "scratch" literally wipes off! ''.

 

The outside is fairly scratch resistant. However the palm rest is a nightmare on mine. It has this layer that is will leave streaks if you slide your nail across it. Also if it is slightly moist and I rub it a bit or use a towel to wipe the drop of water away the layer peels into this smudge of white blotch that reminds me of dead skin peeling up. Though that is just my laptop.

 

But is it permanent damage or can it be cleaned off by rubbing it with your hand?

 

I always remove my watch when using G73 because I accidentally scratch the rubber pad with my watch. But now the scratch is gone ^^ I just have to prevent doing it again.

 

On my first g73 that I returned I wiped the rubber off with a moist towel, but found this to leave that kind of white film look when viewed at an angle in the sunlight. So on this new one I am avoiding wiping it with a towel and instead just wiping the dust off with my hand, and in the case of scuffs, I just use some saliva and rub it lightly. This way I think you won't really wear down the rubber area too much. Also I tend to use my laptop on my bed even while playing games so my palms dont usually rest entirely on the pad, so this will keep it from wearing down as well, and when I have it on the desk I hook up an external keyboard to it.

 

I use my laptop everyday. I use it at work, raid in WOW (4-6 hours), do my homework, surf the web, etc. The rubber is very durable and can leave marks if u slide your finger across but they disappear if you lightly rub it. It is a soft rubber after all and it's more of impressions than scratches.

The discoloration is probably due to dead skin and it is important to use a microfiber towel +plus a non-abrasive, non-bleach cleaner and gently wipe it. I do this once a week and I've had my laptop since 4.30.10 with everyday usage and it looks perfect.

Actually, the cooling is up to the heat sinks and fans. If the laptop is getting hot in places where the CFM from the fans can't reach then guess what? The ambient air inside and out of the laptop will be much hotter when using an aluminum casing. Severe issues with heat is due to improper thermal paste application for many people.

****Con****
My biggest issue with the G73 is the little holes above the Fkeys (speaker areas). They get debris in them and they are hard to get out, even with canned air.

 

Thx for the input. Can you run wow on 1080p, highest settings and AA? That, along SC2 will be the games I will mostly play so your opinion will be greatly appreciated.

 

You can but they wont run at 60fps. More like 30fps for those settings.

 

Amen, brutha. Amen.

 

I can hit 60fps while leveling and such but 25 man raid environments I get 40-60fps depending on the situation. 10man are very smooth and Dalaran is a lag fest during peak hours. I play on Laughing Skull and during peak hours, it will suck for any machine in major cities. The best thing to do is to turn down particle density all the way down.

 

This is not an issue of hardware, but an issue of crapstastic programming from Blizzard. Blizzard while having the most popular MMO in the US/Europe (as there are MMOs in Asia that make WoW population look puny), the programming IMO is the worst among them.

Dalaran is a clear indicator of how terrible the coding is. And it's not just the city. The issue appears whenever you have more than 25 players around you. This issue was the same in Shattrath City. And with Cataclysm, Orgrimmar and the older cities will face the same issue.

WoW is due for an entire revamp. New coding from the ground up.

 

Completely agree with you. Even in 25mans there are terrible slow-downs on any hardware. An interesting experiment you can test is using your flying mount. You can hover high enough to see people and not get dismounted in Dalaran and you can see your fps at a constant 60fps. While still looking in the same area, travel down and you will see your fps just spike in and out. Move 2-3feet and bam you get a constant 60fps. Weird.

 

Maybe they'll fix some of the issues with Cataclysm :-?

 

I doubt it, as it seems to be a core engine/network issue, and Blizzard doesn't do that kind of update. ex: Diablo II

 

I've been playing beta and it has been pretty solid in the fps department.

 

Ah, btw. What about the new water engine? Do you experience any slowdowns if you turn it all the way up? If I turn shadows all the way up, my current notebook lags behind with about 20 fps. Hope the water engine is implemented better...

PS: are there 2 versions of the A1: with 1066mhz ram or 1333mhz ram? I will probably buy from B&H Photo Video and they state that theirs comes with 8gb 1066mhz ram. They also say that the panel in CCFL instead of LED, which I believe is indeed a mistake...

 

I have the water turned up all the way and hit 60fps fine. The problem you may have is if you have distance up all the way. I have distance set half way since a blizzard dev mentioned the water is still being tweaked. I have it set to real time and it looks wonderful.

Some of the laptops are a hit and miss with 1066 or 1333 ram. Mine has the 1333 ram which I got from Newegg.

 

umghh.. what cleaner do u use mate? I have no idea on which to buy.

 

I use Invisi-Glass cleaner. It is used for car windshields, no streaks but for the fact the interior of my car has soft rubber in it as well, especially right under the interior windshield. This stuff works really well on plastic and rubber surfaces. Get a good micro-fiber towel to and gently wipe.