G73 vs 17" HP ENvy ?

They almost have the same specs, as far as components, both machines have 8gb of ram, the i7 720 processor, the only little difference i see is that the envy has a 5830 1gb v-ram.

what are some other differences? as far as build quiality goes, cooling, upgradability etc..... I have not got a chance to play around with an envy yet, so people who have, can you guys give me some insight on each? Thanks in advance.

 

If I were you, I would go to the Envy 17 owner's lounge and ask them what their opinion is on the laptop.

 

ive been reading around there forum, seems like there is a bit of a heat issue, is upgradability on this lappy just as easy as the G73? or would every upgrade have to be surgical?

also screen/picture quality how does it look compaired to the g73? I think right now the main thing holding me back is the price,,, at 2000 canadian for the 17 incher, and 1700 for the 15 incher. Its pricey. But i must say it looks pretty sharp. But the g73 looks and feels more rugged.

 

I personally like the g73

 

I just speced out the 17 inch envy at hp's website:


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz edit
Memory 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 1TB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (500GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5850 Graphics edit
Display 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080) edit
Primary optical drive Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam edit
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth edit
Keyboard Full-size island-style backlit keyboard edit
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) edit
Office software Microsoft(R) Office Starter 2010 edit
Your additional options:
Click edit to modify. NOTE: These items are in stock and will ship immediately.
Mice & keyboards HP Laser Mobile Mouse edit
Carrying cases HP 17" Notebook Backpack, red edit
HP Care Pack Services HP 2-year Care Pack House Call Service with Accidental Damage Protection for HP HDX, HP TouchSmart, or HP ENVY Laptop PC edit



Your running total

Price $2,694.96*
Instant rebate -$20.00
Mail-in rebate -$0.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total: $2,674.96
You saved 0.7%


G73's link:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...sp?EdpNo=5648476&sku=A50-17310&srkey=g73jh-a1



Considering the G73JH-A1 is $1699(tigerdirect) full price with the same spec and then when you add in the bing cashback of 13.2 %, it comes down to around $1475, I'd say the G73 is a pretty good deal.

 

I would go for the G73. I will never buy an HP laptop again. They have a more than normal problem with bad hinges. They build them to weak which makes the hinge fail after 3 or 4 years. The metal breaks and then your plastic cover fails. And no matter how hard you fight, you won't get it fixed.

There is even a special website that covers HP models with inferior hinge designs.

 

You mean their OEM is making weak hinges for HP

 

they have it for sale here in canada at futureshop, the 17" model for 1999
but by the shounds of it, im gunna go for a g73.

i see alot of people complaining about heat issues, so i can only imagine what would happen with long gameing sessions etc.

 

The G73 cooling is by far one of its best selling features.

 

Yep it is. I was impressed when i played the entire ME2 demo and the temp didn't even go high enough for the fan to start reving faster. It went very close to the threshold though.

 

If you ever want to mod the system be careful with HP. They are notorious for blocking the use of non-HP components. In their netbooks they even go so far as to whitelist only their WiFi cards.

Also from a style vs function standpoint the Envy is similar to the Macbook Pro. Very cramped interior, loud fans when playing games and not as easy to upgrade.

Did I mention HPs are a pain to upgrade?

Cheers,

 

I would say go with the G73 and let HP go back to doing what they do best, printers.

You're welcome in advance

 

Fixed a little bit, the new HP printers are garbage My 9yr old one, however, is a champ. Slow, but unkillable.

OP: go for the G73. Envy17 has all kinds of hardware issues because it is a first gen HP, and is more expensive to boot. The G73 is cheaper, more powerful and has better hardware... it just doesn't look like a MBP.

 

Definetely G73JH.
Its cheaper, silenter and packs more power.
Both are pretty darn hard to upgrade though...

 

It's not like you gonna need CPU upgrade more than GPU upgrade in the future.
Generally speaking though, the only drawback from getting this into laptop thingy is you can't upgrade as freely as you can do it to your PC.

 

I actually on the same boat as you, also having hard time choosing between the two models. I see it this way:

ASUS G73

- Cheaper
- Faster at the same price
- Better cooling, quieter and less heat transfered to the palmrest
- 2 year standard warranty for reseller models

HP Envy 17

- Screen/ speakers (did not personally test them so you would need to check that with the people in HP's website
- Design? (subjective)
- Battery life ( with the 9- cell battery)
- Less bulky than G73

You might want to wait for the Gen 2 of the Envy, maybe HP will adress some of the problems which are found in Gen 1, and hopefully fix them (at least most of them) like has happened with the Envy 15.

 

Problem with waiting is, as always, the waiting game sucks and never ends By the time envy gen 2 is public, the G73JW (g73 gen 2) will be available too. If you were to truly compare the 2 side by side, what makes people choose one over the other is:

1) aesthetics
2) brand loyalty
3) mobility/battery

If you put those aside, the g73 is the logical winner.

 

Maybe this will change your mind =P


Source: Who makes the most reliable laptops? | Crave - CNET

 

I have an e17, have been playing with it for the last 2 weeks or so. It would be perfect (well maybe without the wobble) if it didn't have this damn heat issue. Supposedly the new bios fixes it, really just makes the fan chug harder and it still gets damn hot. Last I did a full test, I was peaking at about 98c on my i7 720 and about 86 on the gpu, but more importantly, the palm rest just gets too hot to be comfortable. After a few trips to microcenter, I'm pretty much set on returning the e17 and picking up a G73.

The e17 looks sharper, and has a great screen, but the g73 felt more solid, and much better at handling its heat. And for me, with performance pretty much equal, that is the dealmaker/breaker.

 

Cooling should be a primary factor for any machine expecting to game.

 

Not to mention the loudness of the cooling system.. One of the main things for me..

 

Take a look at powernotebooks.com upgraded version of the A-1. They call it the S-1. I just order one and feel like I got the best bang for my buck, plus free of tax(besides Nevada), and free shipping. Plus when I spoke to them today to confirm my purchase they were very patient with ALL my questions, and when you receive your system the hard drive(s) are not partitioned oddly(as Asus has them) and they remove "bloat", and give you recovery disks and all software needed to reboot the system, plus update drivers BIOS etc. Pretty good deal if you ask me. Here's the thread of my specs and price tag. Hope you find this helpful, good luck on your search for a laptop.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/495230-just-ordered-g73-had-few-questions.html#post6402743