Should I purchase the G73 A-1 or A-3?

I am in the process of buying an Asus, and I have done some research on the differences of the A-1 and A-3. Something to do with the Bluray Drive, and the A-3 being somewhat faster? I am definitely computer literate, but not on the level of you guys... This is why I ask for some advice in purchasing my Asus. Is is worth the $400-$500 difference? I will be mainly using it for Civilization V school/work on it. I love video games(mainly console besides Civ), I would also like some recommendation on some games for my new laptop. I enjoy strategy and RPG, not really into first person... Here's some prices that I am considering...

Asus G73JH-A3 Republic of Gamers 17-Inch Gaming Laptop - Black
by Asus

Price: $2,099.99

ASUS Republic of Gamers G73JH-A1 17-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black)
by Asus

Price: $1,699.00

Again any and all advice is appreciated. I'm really just looking for the what the differences of the two are, and what the A-3 'can do' that the A-1 can't. In other words what's the better buy?.. and of course a list of good games!

Thanks in advance

-Frankie

 

The type of hard drives. The A1 has standard 7200 RPM HDDs while the A3 has hybrid HDD/SSD drives.

The only difference you may see in performance is the hybrid drives will be faster when accessing frequently used drive data.

 

Do NOT buy the A3 for that price difference as it is only a single hard drive that is different. The Seagate Hybrid drive only costs $120 (yet you pay $400 on Amazon). You could just buy the A1 and spend the extra money you saved on an SSD and have a significantly faster machine than the A3.

 

Thanks guys! Is the $1,699.00 price a good tag for the A-1? Sorry for all the questions. I haven't bought a computer in 5 years, and I just want to make sure I will have something for years to come. This is my first laptop as well.

Are these hardware updates necessary? What is the process of installing them? I have to take the laptop apart?

Thanks again, any more input would be appreciated. This is a big investment...

 

It's the normal price. I would suggest the A-1 and sparing yourself the cash. If you really want a faster drive, get an SSD. I did it to mine.

It's relatively simple to do it. Get under the laptop, unscrew bottom part and pop it up, take out hard drive bracket w/ hard drive, unscrew current hard drive, then insert your ssd and screw it in. Then work backwards. After that, use a windows 7 disc to install windows 7.

I'm selling my Asus G73JH-A1 for 1300$, used less than 2 months. Check sig if interested.

 

Just ordered the A-1. As for an SSD which one do you guys recommend? Also can I reinstall Windows from the CD shipped with Asus to the SSD?

 

I think they only ship drivers disc. You need to burn/get your own.

Intel X25-M G2 80GB SSD

 

Intel X25-M G2 80GB or 160GB. Excellent performance and only Intel has manual trim with its SSD Toolbox.
Do a fresh install on the SSD, but dont install all the bloatware (insert the windows cd, but when it asks for the driver cd do not insert it since it will install all the crud you do NOT need - just skip that step).

 

If you're willing to go upto 2Ks, then get it from Gentech PC. They will do all the customizations for you, and test everything b4 it ships to ensure that you dont have to rma due to any kind of DOA. They have excellent customization options, and solid customer support.

nuff said.

 

I definitely agree on the choice of SSD model.

I'm curious though - do you prefer the manual TRIM over letting the OS do it for some reason? I've seen you mention this a few times...

 

Decisions, decisions... I already ordered from Amazon, my grand total was $1,764.50 with 2 day shipping... I cannot cancel it at this time...

I would of went to Gentech and ordered it with an Intel SSD installed already, if I had knew about the site previously. With the SSD installed the final total came to 1,885, grant it probably would of took 2 weeks longer to receive it though.

Is it worth ordering the Intel X25-M G2 80GB for around $200, and having it installed by say Best Buy? I watched a tutorial on installing it, seems fairly simple(however I am more fluent playing around with software then hardware and would not want to mess anything up.) Is this SSD a necessity at this time, again sorry for all the questions I am just clueless with this new computer stuff, including this Solid State Drive.

Thanks everyone you guys have been a huge help.

 

Swapping out drives is about the easiest hardware tinkering you can do on this machine You'd have no problem doing it yourself.

I wouldn't say the SSD is ever a necessity, but if you have the means, I highly recommend it

 

What about the installation process after physical installation of the SSD, with all these Drivers and BIOS and what not. Do I have to obtain a Windows 7 disc? A lot of this reading on this site and abroad has helped me immensely, but has also confused me some what lol.

 

I'm thinking about trying to cancel my amazon order, and purchasing ASUS G73JH-S1 from powernotebooks.com. It includes the 1333 memory and the Intel SSD for a grand total of $1,996. My Amazon which which included only 1066 memory and no SSD is $1,764. The $250 is well worth it, even with the extended wait no?

 

You'll get better support from powernb.com than the amazon guy, which is worth it IMO.

 

I decided to go the powernotebook way, see my thread for my new specs. Do you think I got a good price for it's specifications?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/495230-just-ordered-g73-had-few-questions.html

 

Yes i prefer manual trim. The OS sometimes does not trim what it should and the garbage slowly builds up. With a manual trim once in a while i just make sure that doesnt happen.

 

as to the windows cd.... there is a thread (search for like windows 7 legal download) on how to make a recovery cd..... takes a bit of time but it works great (got my a1 last thurs made one and used it worked great)

 

You can find the link to the ISO from the top link in my sig.