Considering Buying The ASUS G53 or G73

Would everyone recommend these rigs for gaming? right now I have a pre 2008 Alienware M15x (older model) with a 8700M GT graphics card. It appears DELL bought out Alienware and no longer updates drivers for the older rigs which has warranted a new upgrade for me so i was considering one of these models. I have never owned an ASUS so I was wondering what the general consensus was. Amazon seems to have the best price for the A1 versions.

 

Well these days those two particular models have about as much hit and miss luck as an Alienware. Theyre are issues here and there. You get a good one and enjoy it till you buy something else, you dont well its no different then the million alienware complaints.

But theyre performance usually goes in hand with the savings. Alienware means more money for same stuff. ASUS usually the opposite, but dont leave out MSI and Sager in you search either.

Of course you posted in an ASUS section so I can already predict the responses.... heck i can just quote the responses out of other G53/73 wanting to buy threads.

As far as drivers go, ASUS doesnt update them alot either. Only real need to after a certain point is resolve problems created by new updates to windows. As far as GPU drivers etc I cant say many people use anything other than ones available from amd or nvidia.

 

So how does the G73 lets say, compare to the SAGER NP8170?

The Sager runs a nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 470M w 1.5GB

While the G73 runs nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 460M 1536MB DDR5 Video Memory

im gonna assume without doing research at the moment (in a wow raid) the Sager has a better Video Card for gaming.

 

It does, but other aspects you need to look at are heat dissipation, weight, and screen quality, plus battery life. Price is also a factor, as well as features.

The GTX460 is a solid performer, about equal with the HD5870M. The 470 will do better, obviously, but by how much I do not know. I suppose notebookcheck.com would know better on that. The G73JW-A1 I have so far has been problem free, and the only upgrade I find necessary would be getting an Intel 6300 + 3rd antennae and getting that installed. (or 6200 if you don't want to deal with the 3rd antennae install) The 6250 with WiMax is an interesting alternative. Best part is these upgrades are about $30

 

What type of upgrade is that? are you saying that the built in wifi isn't good? basically im looking to spend 1500 on a gaming laptop. I really only play WOW, but since cataclysm my settings have dropped a bit and i cant run everything at the highest setting anymore using my 8700M GT. I want something that will run Cata at max and not have much issues on the next few expansions (hoping there isnt a huge overhaul of the graphics) I really only play WOW, watch movies, and download stuff. But I would also like the option of playing other high end games should I wish.

 

Some people dislike the atheros card; others find it causes problems. Mine has been fine, but I don't have a wireless N network - my net connection can't filld the bandwidth of 802.11g, so I don't see the point.

 

I've only started browsing the Asus gaming forums lately, but it seems the 17" has keystroke recognition issues... not sure if it's been fixed in bios or not, you might want to look at that thread. I'm only interested in the G53 so I'm not bothering to read the G73 stuff.. I would imagine the G53 or equivalent Asus with proper i7 cpu will do WoW on max fine. WoW is still a CPU although it does use GPU a lot better now a days.

I never saw the point in having "N" speed either since I have dsl, but there is a major difference I've noticed in having a quality card + N-router. I also play WoW and my ping has dropped significantly (hangs around 70ms) after upgrading to an Airport Wireless Extreme N dual band router with my MBP. My backup machine is an old 2006 Dell and damn that wifi card blows... 200ms is best I can do and I'm in the same room as the router..

 

With an N router you also have better range with a proper N card. The point of faster routers has almost never been external connections like the internet. The point is the same as switching from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps switches. You can transfer data from one machine to another faster. So if you decided to backup to NAS or a file server you could potentially do it faster.

Other than range on a complete N solution the average person might not care. If I didnt have a bunch of G routers already I might have picked up a new N router.

 

I've looked into the g73 dropped keystroke issue alot... essentially any g73 series can have it, Ive personally experienced it on the best buy model and the microcenter sandybridge model before it was recalled although I know people with g73-3des that have it too. Several possible fixes will possibly correct it some of the time... The only 99% certain fix for it is to disable the trackpad in bios. Essentially whats happening is that the trackpad driver is causing the problem.

While I like the g73 it makes getting one not an option for me as I develop for a living an need my typing.

Ive been seriously looking at a g53 but the lack of drive rails for the 2nd drive have kept me from ordering so far. At least xoiticpc doesnt have them.

 

I am not sure if the setup is the same on the G53 as I know things changed around a bit. On the G50/51 there was no need for the bracket. The drive slides in the slot and stays. ASUS put some padding in the second bay to hold the drive in alignment (almost). Ive been running second drives in the 50 that way forever.

Eitherway all the brackets are being used for production and since its not something that goes "bad" they're rarely available from the ASUS store and never seen a reseller offer em up. I always wanted one, the M50 had em available for awhile and I thought they could have been modified but never tried.

About the key stroke issue, G50V/VT and a few other models apparently had them. I never experienced the issue but I run the latest drivers. I have two ASUS models here and the U50F seems to need a touchpad driver reinstall after a certain windows 7 update. Without it things get crazy with the KB and Mouse.

 

what exactly is the keystroke issue? if its like when you push certain keys more than once like LL or RR and they dont show up, it also happens to my M15X. But please elaborate if its more.

Also when ordering from xoticPC they have an option to "overcock my system" for 45 bucks... is this generally a good idea?

 

That's a stress test they run while finding the optimal overclock settings for your specific chip(s). It's worth it if you don't want to do all the testing on your own - otherwise you could spend a long time trying to find settings that are rock stable. A better use of your money would be a GPU/CPU repaste.

 

lol overcock...

apparently the keystroke issue is if you're typing, like you're typing as you make a post, that one in every so many keys will be "dropped" as in not read.

Like for example you may or not have had a keystroke dropped when typing overclock... =D

 

The G73 HDD bracket will work on the G53. Although not an exact fit, I'm using one for a SSD which does secure the drive to the chassis.

Both the G53 and G73 are relatively equal performers. It all comes down to portability vs screen real estate. Having both the 73JW and 53, I prefer the 53 for it's size.

The major difference between the two I find is the 73 has a rubberized finish where the 53 is a hard plastic. The 53 touchpad buttons are harder to press than the 73. My 73 LED panel has horrible light bleed ... something I think is just the luck of the draw and not typical with all 73's. (But something that I plan to try to RMA.)

Bahahaha ... perfect example! Being a fast typist, missed keystrokes is super annoying. I'm surprised Asus hasn't resolved this by now.
BTW I see missed keystrokes on both the 53 and 73.

All in all, they are great peformers for the bang for the buck but I have to say that unless Asus fixes the keystroke issue I'm moving on to something else.

 

They're both HUGE. If you're going to have a HUGE computer, get the g73. The g53 is only slightly smaller, to be honest. Take a look at the multitude of side by side shots. Also, the g73 is easier to open up.

The missing keystroke issue is GONE on the g73 JH models, too.

 

Hm ... haven't seen any difference opening it up between the two.

Although the pictures may not show it I can say that having both versions the difference is noticeable especially hauling it around with a backpack of textbooks.

It all comes down to your personal preference. Best thing to do is compare these two side by side and make your decision then.

Good luck!

 

You have missing keystrokes on the g53 as well? Thats the first i've heard of it being a problem on the 53. If thats the case I'm pretty much out of the asus market as I program and write for a living and type 100+ wpm and can't live with all the typos from dropped keys ive experienced while test typing the g73s at bestbuy and microcenter. Thats a shame if thats the case.

I can't believe that Asus or any computer maker these days is having problems with basic I/O like keyboard, mouse, etc. This is old hat if they cant do it right they have no business spending resources on 3d models and 20 different flavors (XT1, XN1, A1, A3, etc) of machines that cant accept basic input reliably.

I talked to the folks at one of the resellers about it asking if they could test a machine for the issue prior to sending it out (in regards to the 73, they say the 53 doesnt have the problem) and they said that its possible for all 73s to have the problem so they cant test for it.

 

As far as the model variations u know most of them are just the difference between a battery and a cpu or a hard drive or bluetooth. A 12 year old with 30 minutes on his hand can draw up their line up. If they actually put time into it then theyre definitly on the bad side of productivity. (Some of the 3D variants might be a little more complicated)

Synaptic drivers have caused havoc on everything from what ive seen and microsoft likes to change windows in ways that doesnt help it. But Logitech drivers have even been known to screw with my compiler on 64 bit machines so who knows anymore who's fault it really is.

I love ASUS but like you I am mostly likely going somewhere else next time.

 

The missing keystoke issue is definitely still present on the JW, JW-3DE, the bestbuy model and even the new sandybridge model sold through microcenter before it was recalled.

Ive been running around testing every g73 i can get my hands on as I would REALLY like to buy one of these machines but with the keystroke problem its a definite deal breaker for me. To date I've only found 2 machines that didnt have the problem, both best buy models although the other best buy models ive tested had the problem so its not immune either.

Im guessing you have a JH and its great that its not happening for you. Your one of the lucky ones.

 

Yep, I can confirm that the missing keystroke does happen on my G53. (Although less frequent than the 73JW.) I previously owned a G50VT and it too missed keystrokes at a similar frequency to the 53.

I'd be interested in knowing if my keystroke issue with the 53 is isolated ... if so I may have an opportunity for an RMA. Can anyone comment whether they are seeing this issue on their G53?

Overall, I too like Asus products. I think that they have a done a great job in providing gaming laptops for a value conscious market but this missing keystroke thing has hurt them in having me as a return customer.