My G73 Experiences So Far..

I was involved in a rather serious auto accident in March of this year and spent quite a bit of time in the hospital and an assisted living facility. My injuries prevented me from being able to physically access my desktop systems so I had the need for a laptop. In June, after reading the reviews of the G73, I had my wife pickup a G73JH-X3 from a local brick and mortar retailer. My first G73 displayed the psychadelic screen of death 5 days later. I quickly realized it was a hardware issue and promptly had the machine returned to the store for a replacement.
The second machine had the intermittant system freeze due to the Creative drivers. A visit to these forums aided me in resolving that issue. A few months later I upgraded the two 320GB HDs with 2 Seagate Momentus XT 500GB drives. Moving the OS and data to the new drives was a cinch using Seagates DiscWizard utility.
As time went by, I noticed the idle temp of the GPU had gradually increased to 76C. Seeing as how I had some AS-5 laying around I decided to perform the repaste last week. Even with only partial use of my left hand (injury sustained in car wreck) I found disassembly of the unit quite straight forward after watching the teardown video on Youtube. The only part I was a a little leary of was the way the guy in the video was man-handling the keyboard during removal. Instead of ripping the keyboard from the double sided tape, I decided to use a serrated knife blade to try to cut through the tape to keep from mangleing the keyboard. It worked quite well with the exception of nicking the blue flexible printed circuit and severing a single trace. I thought about using rear window defroster repair compund to try to patch up the circuit (I'm a former auto technician) but decided to just buy a new keyboard.
So the search began. Asus' online store had them for $55.30 US funds, but the site said they were currently unavailable. Several parts distributors in CA had them in stock, but for right around $80 US funds. So with a little persistance I found a place that had them on sale for $19 and change. 3 day shipping cost about $7. I was concerned about the part being correct for the machine, I did not want to do without the back-lighting on the keys so I called the number on the web site and got a human who could not answer the question concerning backlighting. I took a chance. Glad I did. The new part is identical to the OEM keyboard with only one exception, color. The new unit is gloss black, but I must honestly say I like the contrast between the gloss and matte blacks. All in all, great learning experience.
Just wanted to add that I've been reading this forum on a daily basis since I first had the lockup issue and wish to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences with the G73. I do use my system for gaming as well as video editing and absolutely love this (my first) laptop. There is alot that one can learn here.

My Current System Specs: Asus G73JH-X3 w/2x Momentus XT HDDs, 1 Seagate GoFlex 3TB 7200RPM External Drive, Hauppage 950Q USB Tuner Stick

Whoops! I neglected to mention that the above average idle temps were caused by a buildup of dust at the GPU fan outlet housing blocking airflow to the ducting that directs airflow to the rear outlets. GPU now idles at 62C with ambient temps between 76F and 82F. The buildup looked like a blanket of lint from a clothes dryers lint filter! Prior to the cleaning my system would reach thermal overload and shut down, now I've not seen anything over 99C with 99-100% GPU usage. I suppose the repaste was not necessary, but since I was there, and it certainly could not hurt, it only made sense to repaste and get it out of the way.

 

Can you share a pic of your keyboard? I'm just curious - I'd like a spare in order to do the light modification.

 

Sorry for the poor image quality, but it shows the contrasting colors. I found the keyboard at OutletPC.com - Asus Laptop Keyboard for Asus - G60,G73,G60VX,N61V,N61VG,X61SL & N71V

 

Im not trying to offend you, tony, did you just change your pasting with partially using only one hand?

I think you just gave me more confidence to do it myself.

 

No offence taken. Yes, I only have partial usage of my left hand. My right hand is fine. It was the wrist that was shattered in the accident and I have 7 screws in there along with 2 steel plates, one on the radius, and one one the ulna. When the bones healed themselves they fused at the wrist, so I cannot rotate my wrist. On the other hand (no pun intended), I was a auto technician for over 15 years and even taught auto technology for 5 years, so I'm a little more adept than the average bear when it comes to taking things apart. Just take your time, be aware of what screws go where, make sure all cables are routed the same way before they came out, make sure you have no leftover parts and never force anything to remove or reinstall. You will be fine. For me, disconnecting the harnesses was the thing that slowed me down the most, but just watch the teardown vidio on Youtube, the guy gives adequate info on how each one comes apart. Best of luck to you!

 

Looks awesome! Keyboard ordered.

 

This is an awesome thread, I have the same feelings towards some of the information here.

I have the same model as you which I got on the 1st of November. Within one day I had gotten the GSOD while playing Fallout which made my heart drop. I hate when new toys (especially expensive ones) fail and I thought this was going to be the beginning of a very exhaustive process of returning/getting a new one etc etc etc. Turns out the fine folks here had a solution - and it was as simple as a vBios update.

No problems since, idle GPU temp is 51C, maximum is 82C (using laptop cooler and have the access panel removed).

Great computer and I hope it lasts me a very long time since it replaced my previous monster of a desktop.

Question though regarding your Momentus XT, how much of a performance increase did you get? I understand they're the hybrid SSD drives, but did you notice anything?

Thanks!

 

Boot up time is really the only thing that I notice to be faster. It's kind of hard to judge whether or not other commonly used apps see a boost in performance. When I 1st got the drives I was just glad to be rid of the extra Asus created partitions, and seeing as how it takes time for the drives to 'learn' which apps to put in memory, I did not notice anything right off the bat. After a week or so I can honestly say I noticed the boot up time decreasing. Trust me, I would rather have 2 500GB SSDs in place of these hybrids, or 1 120GB SSD as the boot drive and a 750GB 7200rpm drive as the secondary, but I've not seen a 7200rpm drive of that capacity in 2.5 inch form. All in all I do not regret getting the XT drives, just do not expect anywhere near SSD performance.

 

I've seen the g60v shiny keyboard and they looked cheaper than the ones for the g73.

 

The one I received is the same in all but color. Same feel when typing, perfect fit. If it's not a 'genuine' Asus part, it is one heck of a knock off.

 

Quite likely made by the same factory that makes the genuine asus parts - the colour difference is probably because asus standardized their keyboard size across the g-series laptops - and if it isn't genuine, it was just "excess" parts that the production factory made and sold. You know, asus orders 50k parts, they make 55k and sell 5k on ebay.

 

I just got around to installing the keyboard, and the replacement is very nice!

1) The key contrast is better. I work in a BRIGHT room most of the time, and now I can slouch back and still easily define what the keys labeled - not that need to "read" the keyboard much anyway... but still.

2) Keys are "punchier".

3) The trim is very, very glossy. As a side effect, using the laptop in dark rooms now gives the keyboard a neat "glass" effect, from the purplish backlight reflecting off the insides/sides of the key-wells. Hard to describe, but it's neat. It's not just the generic black metal coating - feels like a thick plasticy-clear coat of some kind.

I was planning on modding the original keyboard, but I think I'll just keep the new one in here as-is.... not bad for $20.