Buy now or wait?

Hi guys. Been lurking around this forum for quite sometimes now and decided to join in. I've been thinking of buying one of the G73 series and I'm just wondering if this is a good buy:

Amazon.com: ASUS G73JW-XT1 17.3" w/ 8GB RAM, BluRay & 2 YR War: CircuitCity

or should I wait for the next gen?

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


Heat: Betauser

 

I'd get the SW, I don't know if they're on sale yet because of the whole Intel business though.

 

The one i posted not good?

 

If you wait, there'll come something new that you'll have to wait for

 

Ya, true. I think I might jump ship now and enjoy the laptop

 

While this is always true, there's little sense in NOT waiting when you already know what is coming reasonably soon is a fair bit better, for approx the same cost.

I'd wait for the SW, the new chips are a fair bit faster than first gen i7's, though it will take a little longer to trickle down to the X models (a1's always get delivered first).

 

I agree--I would recommend waiting. The Sandy Bridge G73s will resume shipping soon. But more importantly, the prices on the current G73JW models have not changed for several months [except for rebates on the A1 model--which is more expensive than the XT1 you are looking to purchase].

If you're going to jump on the G73JW-X_1, I would recommend doing it when the prices of those models have gone down some--which will probably happen once shipments of the G73SW resume.

 

Price for the JW-A1 has already gone down in the form of rebates. That's how ASUS marks down their old inventories to make room for the new.

 

As you stated ASUS is offering a rebate on the A1 model, but it looks like the initial poster is considering the XT1 model, which is less expensive than the A1.

Prices on the XT1, XN1, XA1 models have remained pretty much the same for several months. The XN1 briefly went down to $1364.00--but only on New Years Day.

 

I'm new to these model base from ASUS G73 series. What are the differences of X1, A1, XT1? I look at them on amazon and doesnt really tell me much of technical differences on amazon websites.

Btw, thanks for the input guys. If the SW model is worth waiting for the new chipset, then I might just do that.

 

honestly I would not buy anything atm,
Sandy brigde laptop as now have the failing 460 as graphic card...
This is why I got my JH version on november... I did not wanted the nvida model, It would be stupid getting it now a CPU upgrade without a GPU one...

Yet we don't know when/if a future version of the G73 series will have either a 6970 or 485 as graphic card...

I would wait!

 

Here's a list of the current G73JW models (with 1080p screens), from cheapest to most expensive:

X B1 - Sold by Buy.com (around $1250)
X N1 - Sold by Newegg.com (around $1429-$1449).
X A1 - Sold by Amazon.com. Might be out of stock at the moment (around $1449).
X R1 - Is/was sold by special Resellers such as XoticPC, Powernotebooks, GentechPC, and possibly others (around $1449 when configured the same as XA1). These resellers are special b/c they provide customization and cash discounts.
X T1 - Sold by Tiger Direct/Circuit City (around $1499).
A1 - Sold by most/all resellers; offers 2-year warranty.
3DE - The 3D version, has nice 120Hz matte screen.
ROG - The most expensive G73, has more upgrades.

Each website will detail the technical differences of the models. Usually, the prices vary due to differences in the size of the hard drive, amount of memory, Blueray option, or warranty offered in each model. Some also throw in a mouse and bag.

 

Unless there's a change in the graphics card department. You should wait for a while. Having the Sandybridge upgrade is useless unless its tied up with a powerful gpu than the sucky 460m. IMO.

 

The r3's did sell for a couple of weeks with the new 6870m. And cpu is just another story for a gaming laptop. The first thing you should look at is the gpu it self. It's a gaming laptop. Games usually use atleast 30-60% of the cpu. Getting a powerful gpu would be the real deal.

 

The 6870m ISN'T significantly different than the 5870m. You need to get a 6970m to justify the wait. If you're just waiting for a 6870m, a 5870m will perform the same.

 

Great info guys. I really do appreciate all your contributions. I currently dont have a laptop right now and only using my desktop Q6600 as my main. Maybe I'll just grab one of the used best buy model here on NBR if theres any to tide me over with the new G73 series. I know the BB model isnt the greatest, but if I can get anywhere 850-900 used w/ at least 1yr of warranty of the BB model, I would be greatful to have that.

Thank you again guys. Especially for the model clarifications ..

 

I was in the same dilema as you...i ended up buying the xt1 from circuit city... there will be a new thing every 3-4 months.. i wud say go for it

 

There is also the G73JW-X B1 from Buy.com for $1250:

Buy.com - ASUS G73Jw-XB1 17.3" Notebook, Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz), 6GB DDR3 Memory, 640GB HDD, DVD Super Multi-Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (1.5GB GDDR5), Windows 7 Home Premium