Interested in buying my first gaming laptop!

So im very excited to say that I will be getting rid of my HP laptop that I once owned. It was plauged with many problems and the biggest issue was overheating and it randomly shutting down. I am now looking into purchasing a new laptop that I can use in school but more specifically for games since thats what I do while on the laptop most of the time.

I was looking into the G53JW because it is not a bad size compared to the 18 inch I used to have to carry around when I went places. I also happened to look on XOTIC.com and they finally have the G73SW which has the Sandy Bridge processor on it. So I have a few questions.

1.) Are there any reports of the G53JW or G73JW overheating? (I really dont want to experience this problem ever again)

2.) What are some of the main issues with either system?

3.) Is it worth going for the G73SW for the new processor or should I save money and stick with the JW brand?

4.) How reliable is asus computers? (I ask this because its not a common product type that Ive heard about and usually my family buys from known companies such as Dell or Hp and trust only those.)

If someone can answer those questions I would really appreciate it!

 

1. Yes
3. Not worth it.
4. Hit and miss. I havent had a single problem with my g73. Other people have touch pad, Over heating, keyboard, GSOD issues.

Maybe you should read http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...blems-useful-threads-read-before-posting.html

 

There aren't reports of overheating so much, the G53 obviously runs hotter than the 73, but there are some reported problems of random shutdowns with the G73JW. There are some ideas that it may be power-management related, but I'm not sure since I don't own one.

There's a thread about debating the wait for SB here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/543222-should-i-wait-sandy-bridge-asus-laptop.html

This has also been discussed thoroughly in the SW thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/539949-big-news-new-asus-sandy-bridge-laptop-g73sw-coming-soon.html

And yeah, read the sticky. All of your questions can be answered by reading existing threads. Good luck.

 

Rather than get a gaming laptop, spend money on a gaming system. Build it yourself. You'll get more bang for your buck, it'll be upgradeable, and you can spend ~200 on a netbook for taking notes in class.

 

If that option was opened up for me I really would considered it but I doubt my mom would go for it. I need something portable to have at school and I want to be able to game on it which is why I was interested in purchasing a laptop. One day though I hope to build my own.

I would like to mention though, after reading many post and looking through a thread filled with people who were having complaints about freezing with their G73 and G53 series im thinking about looking into another company. Their stories of waiting for their systems (One guy waited almost a month) it's also something that steered me away and is a clear sign that even with asus their customer support is not customer friendly. I already had bad experience with hp, not so bad as that, but I could only imagine how bad I would rage if I was in that situation.

 

If you're looking into laptops that can really game, there's really only a few companies that you can choose from. HP, ASUS, MSI, Alienware(Dell), Sager, Clevo. HP Envy series are the slimest by far but they tend to be hot 24/7 and many have reported dead laptops within weeks. The Alienware bloat is simply too expensive for what you pay. I suggest looking at MSI's line-up for something along the affordable line. I don't really know much about Sager and Clevo to comment. Seriously though, the problem with the G73JW/JH overheating were just common when the laptop first cameout, the ones produced in the last few month actually have decent paste and no issue (except the JH and the touchpad/keyboard issue).

 

since mots have answered your questions, I would just state that asus should be the best (cheaper and reliable) for gaming laptop, the next I would say Clove because of the easy upgrading.
DON'T GO FOR HP is my best advice.
MSI is good but I am concern with the built quality...

My G73-JW has been fine, there had been 3 random shutdown in my 5 months usage, most of the time is because I was over-clocking...
but since it can be turned on and usable within 30 seconds (not SSD), it doesn't bother me too much

 

Amazingly(not) people tend to come on this or many other forums and believe that reading the negatives about a product speaks for the majority of its users. I would suggest you go and read reviews from online store sites(New egg or Amazon) as the users don't just post negatives about items. It is however, good to come here and read about tweaking and modding, as the info is spot on most of the time.

 

@Frosty5689 I thank you for your recommendations, I will most defiantly look into some of those.

I think im done with hp though, the HDX 18t which is what I own currently is a nice system if you like movies/music but for the amount I payed for it, it does not do what I want to do. So no worries on warning me about them. Frosty, you mentioned that the problems people were having were when the computers first came out but I did indeed pay attention to the date of these replies and some were made just weeks ago. I understand that not everyone is having those problems but what are the chances that I would get one of those bad computers as well. Does it depend on what vendor you buy from or what? I was planning to buy from XOTIC and one person who was having a problem had also purchased theirs from there.

The reason why I am looking for negative post because many reviewers who have good things to say about a system may not of had any of these problems, but by me researching then I find out problems that might have not been stated about the system. I have learned this after buying my HDX, I had only researched and read reviews that only gave good input about the computer but little did I know that the system stays very hot and is prone to random shut downs. By me just looking up the reviews that only had good things to say it kept me blind from finding out about its problems as well.

I do thank all of you though for giving me input on all this and also suggesting me some other brands. I am considering everything that has been said and will put alot of thought into this.

 

The asus comes with an unbeatable default warranty including 1 year accidental damage.

 

If money isn't an issue (read: parents are paying for it), get an alienware or clevo.

If it is, get an MSI with 1366x768 screen or g73 with the 1600x900 - the FHD screen in the top of the line g73 is one of the more pricey parts, and getting a lower res screen drops the price to around $1000.

 

I think it all depends what kind of gaming you want. There are things to be said for the upcoming processors, especially if you consider it an investment to upgrade pieces a year, two years down the line.

 

I think I made up my mind and would like to thank you all for helping me out. Im looking into the Sager 8760 or the newest model (8170) which im waiting to see when it will be avaliable on sites such as Xotic so that I may order it. Thanks again for everyones input.