G73sw or G73jh refurbished?

JH is currently selling at $760 at tigerdirect, while sw is currently selling at around $900 at newegg and bestbuy (with tax).

So does it worth it? $140 for a slightly faster and larger harddrive, much faster cpu? jh also seems to have more problem than sw such as GSOD.

 

Depends on the model we are talking about. The JH has none of those issues after you apply all the updates and fixes.

 

Asus G73JH-BST7 Refurbished Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz, 6GB DDR3, 640GB HDD, DVDRW, 17.3 Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, Black at TigerDirect.com

Asus - Factory-Refurbished Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display - Black - G73SWRF-BST6

Here are the models, and the best buy one doesn't include tax which makes it around $900.

Just makes me wonder why the tiger direct one is so much cheaper ..

 

The tiger direct one is based on the 740QM 1.73Ghz first gen Core i7, the Best buy is based off the new Sandy bridge CPU 2Ghz 2nd gen Core i7. That explains the cost difference. Both are refurbs anyway.

Though the Mobility 5870 is definitely the better performer in games once you've updated the system BIOS to 2011 and vBIOS to v93.

 

goldenhk, I think at that price you should be able to get a G73JH- A1 - which has these advantages over the BST7
2 - 500 gig HD's (7200RPM) ---- 1 640 (5400)
8 GIG ram ------- 6 GIG ram
Mouse and Bag ------- Not mentioned
Full HD 1920 x 1080 --------- 1600 X 900
IF you go this route look into what happens if it arrives with issues - Shipping costs, restock fee if any, warranty.
Also I have read mixed reviews about Tiger Direct.
AFA GSOD, this is easily solved in most cases with a VBIOS update on either G73JH or BST7

 

Don't the g73sw-bet models have the gimped version of the 460m? If that is the case, hands down the JH, but I don't know if that is the case tbh... Wait for someone to chime in with more knowledge on the SW model lineup... You do not want the gimped 460m...

 

Woah they're so cheap XD if I can just buy another one hahaha! I don't know if the $750 is a factory refurbished.
Get the Jh model cheaper and better GPU 6gb ram to 8gb ram is not noticeable, FHD monitor is kinda hmmm...
dunno but you're not to compare 2 screen you can't differentiate it (unless you want to).
But, yeah if you really want the speed over-all not just the game get the more expensive one.

If the product is refurbished, did they changed some parts or clean it well like brand new? Including the Thermal paste, or fans...etc?

 

Does anyone know what refurbished on tigerdirect could mean? Might it be a display iteam? In fact I am really thinking of getting JH since it is so much cheaper, but it is a bit too cheap that makes me suspect.

 

That is not really that cheap I got my RBBX05 for cheaper 6 months ago and that was a refurb out of warranty.

Go with the JH if you intend to game its a great model and you can upgrade the 740QM to a 920XM if you want a faster CPU.

 

That SW would be the gimped 128bit 460M...

JH and then make sure the vBIOS is updated (see sticky for Fix Your GSOD Blues thread)

 

I guess that means I had some sound advice there... gimped 460m = way worse than a full fledged 5870m. Hell, even now I cannot convince myself to get rid of my G73JH, as its a beast still to this day. I haven't found a game that I'm utterly unhappy with yet... sure, some games just can't be maxed out like crazy, but most games play at high->max to this day.

I haven't had any major issues with my JH since day one tbh. Got lucky on the GSOD issue, never had one before the vbios was released. Keyboard kinda got a bit annoying for a bit there (dropped characters while typing in a router command line = REALLY annoying), but a bios update (211), and the newest ATK/keyboard filter fixed that. My only other complaint is Asus's unwillingness to sell replacement parts for a laptop that is out of warranty. Other than that last issue, everything has been amazing on my G73JH, and I've carted this thing all over Texas for work.

 

Exactly why the G73JH is gold.

 

I just got the TD G73JH. Price wise it seemed good. Mine was a refurb and you can tell it was sent back for some kind of problem. The first thing I did was put furmark on it and run it. It took about 10 seconds for it get of 100C. So, the first thing I did was a repaste job. I used artic silver, will probably do it again with a better paste. The yellow seal on the cpu was broken already when I got in there, so it was apart. Anyway furmark runs it about mid 90's now after a few minutes, and it idles at ~55 and I can play COD W@W on max at between 80-90 degrees. The repaste helped. I have not updated the bios or done anything else yet. I will say this, TD will tell you that you have a 30 days to return one to them, but read their website and it says refurbs have 14 days. Also, they have a 90 day Asus warranty, use your AMEX card it AMEX will double the warranty to 180 days. Just some thoughts. I have not decided yet if i will keep this or not. A couple hour frag fest is in order to see how it does.
I got this after my Gateway FX series died a horrible Nvidia gpu death. I hope this one does not have that problem.

 

Firstly get the BIOS and VBIOS updated as that will help and then consider repasting with ICD I guarantee your results will be a lot better by doing this or I will eat my own hat. Pea shaped blob of ICD dead centre on the GPU and CPU. I dont see above 74oC in my JH at full burn so you can do better. Make sure the airflow is nice and clean you can get inside the fans if you need to clean them I made sure mine where sparkling before reassembling.

Enjoy your JH

 

Thanks for the info. I have not done much to yet, I just got it yesterday. I wish I had some ICD, but I don't I will get some and try again. The vents were clean so there was no issue there. I would love to see 70's for temps. Next question for you, any guides on how to update the VBIOS??????? I can do the BIOS update, but I have never done a VBIOS. I guess I can look, but I assume they are on Asus's website. Oh, on the refurbs you get this for info: ZIP! nothing in the box except the computer and some worthless trial program that they want you to buy, but I got it "FREE" lol.
Thanks for the help.

 

G73Jh GSOD Vbios Update
I do not think you will find VBIOS update info or files on ASUS's site.
THe above guide is excellent, but the best VBIOS file to use is located here
G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference
see this link Betas:
v93 VBIOS for ....
or the one below it if you want extended battery life.
Note DL's from that site may be a little slow, Chastity is working on it.

 

Thanks Josea,
I did check my bios, I have version 213 installed already. Thanks for the link to the guides, I will check them out tomorrow. Do I need a different bios, or is the 213 ok?

 

Clipperfixer, 213 BIOS is the latest and I would guess the majority of the pros here are running that one. I am no pro but I am also running 213 without issues.
Be real careful with VBIOS update, a few have bricked their machines doing it, but if you want to use newer ATI Video Drivers without issues you need to update the VBIOS first.

 

Ok, Thanks. I will check out the guide to the vbios.