Request for Comments: Customized G73SW-A1

I am looking at a number of gaming laptop solutions. Besides the stock configured G73SW-A1, I'm looking at some of the options offered by XoticPC ( www.xoticpc.com).

Anyone out there with any experience with customized G73's?

I'm reading a lot of tales of woe regarding the G73s, can anyone address whether those concerns have been resolved in the new SW models?

TIA, responders!

 

Pretty much all the problems with the G73 are fixed. I don't know if the SW has any. The only option they offer that would help prevent problems is the Diamond repaste. At $75 it is a fair value. The paste only costs $7-10, but disassembling the laptop is a hassle so I don't see $75 being unreasonable. Whether you need to be repasted is debatable. It will definitely make it run cooler but it isn't required on most JWs which have the same video card as the SW. Most of the mods are performance additions. Don't bother with more ram or CPU speed, the SW has plenty of both. A solid state drive is the only real good upgrade.

 

Super! Thanks for the run down.
I know I want to go SSD for a boot drive, and had been waffling on CPU and RAM upgrades. Although, RAM should be easy enough to do myself "at a later date".

 

*edit* NM..above post fixed

 

Yeah jw comes with gtx-460m. Also unless you need very cpu intensive application requirements ... dont bother to upgrade ram or cpu.

 

I was half asleep when I wrote that. I meant that the SW has the same card as the JW, and that most JWs don't need repating, so the SWs shouldn't either.

I fixed it.

 

The SW-A1 comes with 2 Hybrid Momentus XT. I suggest not adding an SSD to the customization. Why? They get to keep one of your Momentus XT and you don't get any discount for the SSD. So you're basically paying for the Momentus XT anyway without getting one. I suggest buying a SSD yourself and put it in yourself. That way you get what you paid for.

 

I totally agree. The only advantage of doing it is they'll also install the os and drivers, but most people should be able to handle that, especially if the own a gaming laptop.

 

@ frosty5689: That makes perfect sense. I see you use a OCZ Vertex 2 SSD - I'm thinking that or a Crucial C300 (for the SATA III speed). How do you like it?

@ VakerieFire: Yeah, shouldn't be too hard to load the OS and drivers. If I remember what I read, the unit comes with the OS disk and a drivers disk. Makes that a piece of cake, really. I'm more worried about replacing SODIMMS under the keyboard.

I built all the desktops I ever used, but about 2006 I got lazy and got a HP Pavillion dv8000, so I'm a bit out of touch with customization. This has been a decent machine, but I haven't been able to play any "new" games for the last 4 years.

Speaking of which; I frankly love the keyboard on the HP. Individual keys with decent travel. I spend a lot of time typing, so that's important to me. How is the keyboard on the G73?

Thanks for the feedback, guys. You're making an old guy feel a bit more confident!

 

I actually went to Micro Center and picked up the G73SW-XR1 for $1,399, the only difference is that it comes with a 640gb 5400RPM hard drive and one HD caddy. I put an OCZ Vertex 2 in it and found out that you can order an HP ZD7000 caddy for 1/5th the cost of the Asus one. The SSD is amazing and really makes this laptop shine. So 1,725 for the OCZ SSD and hard drive caddy with a 640 data drive... I feel like it's a great price. Let me know if you have any other questions about the XR1!

 

I like the keyboard, but some people don't. It doesn't have what I would call a "lot of travel" as you said. The key strokes are very shallow. You can go to a Best Buy and try it out since most best buys have a JH-BST7 model on display (which physically is mostly identical to the SW).

You mentioned getting the Crucial SSD for the Sata III speeds. I don't know about the SW, maybe the Sandy Bridge board they are using supports Sata III (I would hope so), but the JH and JW boards are only Sata II, so a Sata III could be a waste. I did some quick searching, and I can neither confirm nor deny that the SW has Sata III. If it doesn't, you don't need a Sata III drive because you won't get the benefit, but you could still get one if you planned on using it in a Sata III computer at a later date.

I also recommend the Vertex 2. I have a GSkill Phoenix Pro which is pretty much identical to the Vertex 2, but I had to RMA my drive, so I don't recommend it. My first SSD was a Vertex 1, I have yet to have any issues with it.