Considering G73SW

Hey everybody. I'm currently looking for a laptop to replace the HP I'm returning. I've been looking around these forums and reading about the computer and some of it's problems, but information seems to be really scattered, so I'd like to pose a few questions directly to the owners.

1) Should I order from a retailer or a reseller? What are the advantages of a reseller, aside from customization?

2) Does customization by the retailer affect the warranty at all? Either the 2 year part warranty or the 1 year accidental?

3) In your opinion, what is the better deal? The XT1 for $1400 or the A1 for $1500? Any other recommended configurations?

4) Should I hold off until after the G74 comes out, and see if prices drop even more? Or is this $100 June rebate basically as much as I can hope for this summer?

5) Could someone report on their CPU and GPU temps at idle, and max temps under load? One of the reasons I'm looking at the G73 is because it's supposed to have good cooling.

6) I've noticed a wide range of issues being reported all throughout the forum, and on retail site reviews. Some of them seem quite odd, while others (like lockups) are widespread. Is this computer stable at all, or has everyone had these sorts of issues? This is quite a lot of money to be spending on a buggy maintenance nightmare, regardless of the hardware.

7) Where does ASUS fit in as far as support goes? Do they release OEM drivers, or can you use the Nvidia ones? Are any parts proprietary at all? If so, does ASUS continue to support the product?

8) How is customer service? How are returns and service handled? The HP I'm returning is the first notebook I've bought since 2003, so I'm pretty clueless as to these matters when you don't buy direct from one of the Big Three.

Thanks for any input you can offer! I'm a big fan of ASUS' desktop motherboards, and I hope I'll be joining you as a happy laptop customer soon.

 

few days ago I get this
the best deal if You don't need blueray
Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G73SW-XN2 Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

my idle temp is 40-45 C and when playing Crysis it's 75C max
laptop temp depend of room temp and humidity

the best speakers I had in laptop

I install clean fresh W7 and I use drivers cd that came with laptop,no problem,everything is working properly
XN2 is the lates model prod date May 2011

 

1) No difference AFAIK, apart form customization. Better support perhaps.

2) No idea, check with the resellers.

3) XT1 comes with a standard 500GB HDD. A1 comes with two of the fastest mechanical HDDs available - Seagate Momentus XT 500GB. Plus, you get the Asus backpack and mouse. Obviously the A1 is worth the extra $100.

4) No idea.

5) CPU idles at around 45 C, GPU 40-45 C. I have not seen more than 80 C on the GPU in gaming while overclocked to the max. Furmark max is 90 C. I have not stressed the CPU to see the max temp yet, however it is usually 70-75 under load. I'd say those are great temps overall. Laptop itself doesn't get hot.

6) Everything's fine with the SW. Only problem I have noticd is some DPC lag, but that is coming from the display driver, so it may be unrelated to the laptop.

7) Drivers can be downloaded from Asus, but they tend to not update the 3rd party ones very frequently (like graphics drivers). But you can always download those from the source. All latest drivers can be found in this thread.

8) No idea, haven't needed any yet.

 

+1 ^^ The Newegg's one is great! and cheap~

 

The G73Sw-XN2 + a SSD addon would be ideal

 

yup
look in my signature
I keep all my games on hdd

 

Just to hit on the reseller thing (since I'm one) they usually come in handy when it comes to warranty repairs and the like. Most of them will do the leg-work with ASUS when it comes to RMAs.

 

Thanks for the info, everyone! I really appreciate it. I'll definitely be choosing the G73 as soon as I call HP tomorrow to file a return! I think I'll shoot for the A1, as $1500 with the rebate seems to still be a pretty good deal.

Just two more minor questions I have:

1) Has anyone gotten a GPT partition set up on theirs? I was reading the owner's lounge and it seemed someone couldn't get it to work. This isn't essential per se, but I would really like to set up a GPT partition on my second HDD.

2) Can you downscale resolution to 1600x900? I assume the answer is yes, but for whatever reason my HP can only go straight from 1080p to 720p, so I thought I'd ask. I might like to do this while browsing the web, as I find web page text at 1080p on the 17" to be a bit straining after a while.

Thanks again for your help!

 

Kahn G74 is here, forget the old tech g73. Only stuck G73 owners will try and refute it.

 

It is a question of taste to be honest and price.

The g73SW price is $400-500 cheaper for not much difference in power between the 460M and 560M GTX. Overclock the 460M and you can achieve the same results so that leaves a newer model which could have a list of bugs as long as the JH had upon arrival. I dunno what it is about the G74 is might well be a step up but it just does not have the finesse looks about it that the G73 gives and I do not like the big panel underneith if it cannot allow access to the GPU and CPU its a waste of time.

The Newegg offer is a bargain. Spend the extra $500 and put it towards a 2920XM or an SSD.

 

As Dallers has said, you are paying quite a premium for a marginal upgrade. The 560M is still basically the same as the 460M, and if I really wanted to, I could OC the 460M to 560M levels. The only other hardware difference is the extra 4GB RAM, which is completely unnecessary and not even dual-channel. I have heard some people complain about the keyboard on the G73, but I don't think it's worth an extra $300 for a better one.

Personally I will still probably go with the A1 over Newegg's XN2. The price of buying a Momentus XT, Targus XL backpack, and cheap 4x BD-ROM off Newegg comes to $232 shipped, so an extra $250 for those upgrades, plus a mouse and extra year of warranty is a fair deal if you ask me.

 

You can change windows text (dpi) and also in browsers

 

I realize this, but zooming in every individual page in Firefox can get a bit annoying after a while.

So you can you confirm that this display supports 1600x900?

 

no
I am able to change to 1600x1024 and have two black lines on each side

I use explorer because it keep changes all times

 

Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Display -> Make it easier to read what's on your screen.

Or install an addon for Firefox that does this.

 

Thanks! I have that on 125% by default and anything larger makes icons and Windows items too big. But I did come across NoSquint for Firefox and it's a big help!