Looking to pull the trigger on a G series

Been scouring the interwebs for about three weeks or so and going over the G series laptops (G73's) and still haven't made my mind up yet.

I'm debating between new vs refurbished @ newegg.com and also possibly a new system if the prices drop with the G73SW coming soon.

I'm open to suggestions, but my budget is around 1400.00 (or the price of a new G73JW). If I could pay less I would do so (perhaps a JW refurb with an added newegg warranty).

I haven't owned a real serious laptop since my Acer 5672wmli back in 2006 when I did repasting and other mods.

I have no issues working on my own equipment and tearing stuff down to components, so i'm just wondering what YOU would do if you were to jump into the G series pool.

JH? - do some back end work to make sure the ATI card plays nice / cools nice
JW? - Less to worry about but I've yet to see any JW's for refurb yet (if you do let me know)
SW? - Most likely out of my price range.

Ideas / suggestions?

thanks!

 

IMO, it is possible that the JH and JW would drop prices when the SW are released, but in my observation, JH model are beginning to be rare to find these past few weeks. If ever you find some JH model that are for sale, they happen to be refurbished, used or lowered-down specs. Chances are, when the SW is released, the price of JH and JW might increase too because SW are quite expensive to have, hence the demand for JH and JW might increase.

 

*shrugs* I like my JH fine.

 

Hot damn SSX, i remember you back from when i had the same laptop!

Having just bought the Best Buy /ATI version, i can happily recommend it. The video bios flash took two minutes, and has not given me any problems. Same for the regular bios flashing. I am running the 12.12 ATI drivers, and am gaming all night, so i wouldn't worry about problems that were reported in the past.

Frankly, if you find a model you like, you wont go wrong with either version. I think the ATI card is slightly more powerful, but i went with what i did based on budget concerns (i could swing $1199).

If you do buy.. welcome to the club!

 

Yea I've been hiding / lurking...well more like I've been working on other ventures such as buying a house, getting married, and finishing school. >_<

I wrote a nice review on an HP G60 507dx for nbr last year but now I'm wanting a laptop that goes in a slightly different direction.

Thanks for the advice on the G series laptops. I'm really not a fan on of the JH's mouse buttons (i'm being nit-picky) and yes I know it's a gaming / multimedia laptop but I rarely use an external mouse when I'm on the go.

I'll wait for CES to see what happens to prices on the units. Last week newegg had the G73 JW for 1300.00 with free shipping for about 24 hours (almost pulled the trigger) but I resisted hoping that I'll see things a bit cheaper.... almost holding out for a refurb

 

I would wait if you can. The best buy version is a great buy, but I held out and got the RBBX05 model that came with the 7200rpm drive and got nit for 920 shipped. If you have the patience wait and get what you want. The prices will drop after CES no doubt, I would think probably 300 bucks or so.