The G73 Best Buy info thread

Apparently that used to be the price, last week when I saw it for $1199 it was marked as "special" (but not "sale"). I was dissapointed to see this as I had resigned myself to buying it over the difficult to find A2.

 

Just bought the G73 for my husband's photography business (gaming laptops are the closest category to a photographer's needs and this laptop fulfills so many needs that his 3-year old HP Pavilion doesn't). Went in Saturday night to see if he liked it (I'm the IT person in the family but it's his laptop so it needed his approval); he did, but he didn't want to buy it that night because we weren't heading straight home and maybe there'd be a sale on it the next day. Nope, price went up $100. So he went in Monday, found the same salesperson I spoke with (salesperson turned out to be a manager and remembered me because he really liked husband's website/photos) and talked him back down to the $1,199 and 15% off accessories. Reminding me once again that almost everything is negotiable when you are nice to the managers.

 

Has anyone had any success finding a matching memory stick for the 4th DIMM slot? I purchased a crucial DDR3 PC3-8500 1066 2GB stick to match the ratings of the Elpida RAM that came standard. However, after installation I checked the HWInfo and it appears the timing has dropped from 1T to 2T (was at 1T before I installed the new RAM). Anyone aware of a 2GB stick that is capable of 1T operation?

Does this even matter significantly for gaming performance?

FYI: grown to really like the AUO lcd. Once I raised the AVIVO saturation there is no looking back!

 

what did you set the saturation to?

 

I started by calibrating the LCD to D65 with my DisplayLT. Then I turned up the AVIVO saturation to 125 at first, but later bumped it up a bit to 130. Right now I'm playing Dragon Age and Sam & Max so having richer colors really compliments these two art styles.

BTW I sure hope you put some new thermal paste on your chips atomic427 before pushing those overclock numbers in your signature!

 

2T timings with a full 4 banks can be normal, so I wouldn't sweat it

 

Thanks for the pro tip Chastity!

 

thats interesting, mine came with 6gigs of DDR31333.

 

You are one of the lucky ones NGX!

 

Now I'll just see how much more I can fit in along with another drive and the higher rez screen. Check it out

Click this

 

mine also came with 6gb 1333mhz memory then i upgraded to 8gb. cool!

 

what version does bestbuy carry? a1 or a2? my friend wants to buy a refurb for 1050 and im reading horror stories on this laptop. Anything to be worried about?

 

Best Buy doesn't carry either. If you check their website or posts here, you'd notice RBBX05. That's the version.

Instead of G73JH-A1, G73JH-A2, ect, the Best Buy version is G73JH-RBBX05.

 

I called estore.asus.com about PN# 13GNY81AM020-1.

I was politely informed that this is a part that is not available from ASUS.

I was told that it can only be obatained when you order a new system with two drives.

When I said I just purchased a new system that had one drive but I needed a second drive added I was told I should have ordered a system with two drives then and that the bracket is NOT available to order.

Last ASUS product I would order if you can not order parts!!!!!!!!!

 

Wow, that's REALLY crappy. Try the EU site. Shipping will kill ya but they're relatively inexpensive per piece. I bet if you ordered a bunch you could make a killing on eBay... wait I think I just got an idea...

 

Alternatively, make your second hard drive an SSD, then you can probably just duct tape that thing or use some double-sided adhesive foam pads to secure it in the second bay.

 

It can't be THAT hard to fashion a hard drive mounting system for that can it? Just get some insanely thin metal sheeting from a hardware store and work with it until it fits properly?

 

Best Buy has the factory-refurbished G73JH-RBBX05 now for $850. I usually stay away from refurbished laptops but at this price I might make an exception. Anyone have one of these? I'd like to hear if there are any problems with it other than the usual (like the vbios, drivers, etc.). I think it has only a 3-month warranty as is often the case with refurbs.
Refurbished G73JHRF-RBBX05

Okay, sometimes the link doesn't work. But it's there -- go to BB website and search:
G73JHRF-RBBX05.

 

I used the hard drive bracket from a PS3. I just bent the metal clip that locks it in place back down, and placed some padding to push the sata connetors in. I'll take some pictuers of it to show everyone.

 

If you're going to rig up some sort of filler-padding in place of an actual bracket/cage/caddy for the 2nd HDD, I would stongly advise you use something that conducts heat well. Folded aluminum foil should work well. Cardboard and plastic are not good conductors of heat... they are more like insulators.

 

Do you guys think Best Buy will carry the g73jw and g53jw in spring of 2011 that are subsidize watered down version like lower resolution, no bluetooth, lesser ram and hd and price it around $1100-1200?

 

They already do right now. I see the BST-7 staying at or around that price. It may go down a lil after CES in January. I think its at 1199 now, but everyone is pretty much aware that the new ones are all gonna have the sandy bridged processors in them.

 

I'm talking about the JW version of g73 and the new g53 with the GTX 460m and usb 3.0, the bst-7 is still g73jh the only difference in terms of upgrade is the new 740qm cpu, hd is watered down to 5400rpm which don't make any sense at all why would bestbuy do that, back in april of this year the g73jh-rbbx had a 7200rpm hd and it was $1999 then went up $1299 after a month then they discontinued.

 

I think you mean 1199 then 1299. There has never been a JW at best buy. It tends to be a little more expensive than people would buy at best buy. If yoiu are looking for 3.0 and the Nvidia gfx, then you might as well get it from somewhere else.

 

Should I wait until January to buy the BST-7? What do you foresee?

 

Really if you have the money right now, go buy this

Asus - Factory-Refurbished Laptop / Intel® Core™ i7 Processor / 17.3" Display - Black - G73JHRF-RBBX05

If you don't then hold out till Jan/Feb, cause the new models come out about then and the current ones will go on sale

 

Thank you for the link. It looks like a great deal. When you got yours, how was the condition? Anything missing or broken, temps? Did you mind about the warranty? With the RBBX05 refurb from Best Buy last week there was an option for 1 year warranty upgrade but not with the G73JHRF. I've also heard 720qm has many problems that the 740qm doesn't. What I like about this refurb price is that it leaves money left for a screen upgrade to 1080p. Are you going to do that?

 

The physical condition is excellent. There was nothing broken, knicked, scuffed, or any sign of damage. My temps seem to be very good. I run about 47-51 C on the GPU depending on what room I'm in. I ran Furmark for about 30 min and got to 71 C. The warranty didn't bother me, because outside of the MoBo dying, there is just not a lot I can't fix. I didn't go for the upgraded warranty right now, because I had spent a lot of money on Xmas gifts.

I don't have any problems with the 720qm, that I have noticed. I do plan on doing some upgrades and the price made it worth doing. In the very near future I Plan on adding another 2gb stick of memory to get to 8GB and adding a second 500gb WD black drive. I can do that for about 100 bucks and that still gives me room for doing anything else. Later on I will more than likely upgrade the screen (somehow I got the good AOU) and one of the 940xms in a year or so.

 

About the 5400rpm HDD in the BST7: These newer drives have the new higher areal density. This means you get the throughput of a 7200rpm drive without the extra heat, noise, power draw and vibration. So, it's not as bad as you might think.

At the moment, you can get the G73JHRF-RBBX05 for $850, factory refurbished. A pretty good deal considering the hardware you get.

There's no telling whether BB will offer a watered-down version of the JW. Only they would know that and they aren't telling at this point. They still want to get rid of their stock of the JH models... both versions: the RBBX05 and the BST7.

 

I just got a bestbuy ASUS, the G73JH-BST7. It came with 6 gigs of DDR3. I ran a system info and temps program to check the specs and it shows my RAm running at 667 mhz. Is this normal? Would I be able to buy more RAM at a higher speed like 1066 or 1333 and replace the 6 GB that came with my notebook? So far I have updated my vbios and mother board bios and drivers etc. I figured repalcing this slower RAM would be the next step.

 

667MHz * 2 = ~1333...it would be kind of a waste of time and money to replace the RAM with equal or slower

(You already have 1333)

 

Ah ok. Thanks for the heads up.

Maybe I will just get another stick to get 8 GB total.

 

I had 6 when I got my system and added another so make 8gb total. Honestly I don't think the computer ever comes close to using that even when multi-boxing MMO's.

 

How hard would it be to add a bluetooth Module?
Where can I purchase one?

 

Hello,
I asked a similar question some time ago - http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...99-bluetooth-adapter-information-request.html

There is some pretty hefty dis-assembly required - Chastity also states the device is built by Azureware.

In Peace and Agape,
Trav...

 

Yeah best bet is to buy a micro dongle BT adapter..

Only place i have seen that BT adapter forsale is on the Asus EU store and im not sure it includes the cable to attach it to the motherboard ...

So in the end its not worth the hassle and a tiny BT dongle wont get in the way of anything and can be left in all the time..

 

thanks guys for your help!

 

How is the standard 1 year warranty work? Does Geek squad work on it or is it sent back to ASUS?

 

They ship it out to Asus

 

A refurb G73 is up at BB now (get it while you can!) Is it worth getting or should I pay $100 more for a brand new (and FHD) G53 at newegg?

 

Hey everyone quick question for ya. I purchased a brand new G73 from BB last August and it has given me nothing but problems (the laptop was awesome when it worked.) After months of sending it back and forth through Asus, BB has offered to give me a new computer. I was told that BB would be receiving a new model beginning of March. So I was wondering if I should wait for the new model, or grab one of the older models (if the new one is a watered down version.) If anyone has any information or knows the differences, that would be great!

 

Get the newer SW model.

 

Best Buy going to carry G73SW watered down version soon?

Any idea if they will carry the G53 best buy version also?

 

any difference with the G73JH?

 

You should wait. It will be a nice upgrade.

 

What's the best program to use for overclocking this monster? and what ideal settings should we put the gpu/cpu?

 

If it is like the G73 I saw vs the newegg version:
Not 1080p, but 1/2 horizontal rez.
camera is lower rez (don't care either way).
minus 2g of memory.

Things may have change, but that is what I found for the 200 dollar difference between the two for the same basic G73J models at the time about 5 months ago.

 

Hi Symphony,

I had the same trouble with HID evolution. I bought a G73JH-RBBX05 from them as it was advertised (and on the sales receipt) as having a 1 year "Asus Genuine Global Warranty".

When it broke Asus informed me that it doesn't have a global warranty. HID evolution basically ignored me, apart from expressing the opinion that I should keep trying different Asus managers until one agreed to accept it (Asus spent 1 week tracing the laptop back to the manufacture point to confirm the warranty).

My laptop didn't come with a warranty card in the box (I guess HID removed it) so I think they knowingly mis-sell at least this unit.

Did you end up having any trouble with yours?

 

The RBBX models all do not come with the regular ASUS 1 year ADW and 2 year global warranty since they are Best Buy models.