The G73 Best Buy info thread

I really like those last 2. You should post them up somewhere so we can use them as wallpaper!

 

You forgot to take a pic from the bottom looking up

..but I already know how that'll look..

 

I will post up those images and a few others for ya tomorrow morning.

Turkey was really an amazing place, the people were so nice, the food was great and the places you can see there is incredible. just in the region I was in (around Adana which is not a touristy area) there was around 30 castles and old roman/greek ruins to see. None of them have been excavated and you can go anyplace you want in them, climb on any rock, see anything you want.

So far it has been my favorite place I've traveled to yet.

 

I just found this thread, I got my G73 on March 19th, and returned it a few days later. Once they are in the main warehouse Best Buy can order you something before it is on their web page. That is how I got mine I had to pay up front of course, but it was worth it to shorten the wait time.

For the people wondering mine was the 05 model, it did not come with a second caddy, I did have 6 gigs of memory. And the Screen was awful, one of the worst quality laptop screens I have seen in 5 or 6 years. The viewing angles were so poor that I had a hard time keeping the entire screen displaying black, Side by side with my Gateway FX P7805 the vertical viewing angles were about 25% worse on the Asus, the LCD was very bright and had reasonable color accuracy but the viewing angles were bad enough for me to return the laptop. you can read about what I found on Futuremark's forums under other hardware, I am surprised with as eager as the people here are for info about this laptop that my thread did not get posted here.

 

Haelphadreous-

Interesting...because I am writing this on my FX 7805...and am seriously considering getting the BB version 05...So it sounds like the LED 1600x900 display is colorful and bright and great aside from viewing angles??? If that's the case, it (simple viewing angles) would not be a deterrent for me. Everything else performance wise and res/LED wise was great or.....?????

 

Interesting,
Would like to see more opinions on the screen,

 

On the Asus the brightness was a step up over the Gateway, the colors were very vibrant, it had a distinct cool color cast with noticeably bluish whites compared to Gateway LCD. I have some images with very low contrast fine graduations of gray on a darker background, I would say the Gateway had better performance with those though not a huge difference. The big thing was displaying a mostly black screen there were a lot of light areas, (muria/flash lighting) unless you were looking at the screen from a very narrow viewing angle. I do not think that this was an issue caused by uneven back lighting because if you got the screen just right the blacks were very nice. Also Moving the screen even just a few degrees caused significant loss of detail on the Asus screen, much more noticeably than on the Gateway screen.


IF and this is a big If the Asus has a LG panel as I believe it to then LG only makes one 17.3" LED back lit display with a 1600x900 then it is rated at 50/90 for the vertical and horizontal viewing angles. And Color Saturation of 60%, For comparison the 1920x1080 LG 17.3" LED back lit screen is rated at 110v/130h with 72% Saturation.

Hope my answer is not too disjointed, it's fairly late and I am rather tired.

 

Looks decent but the stock lcd from the non BB variants look much, much better. Of course comparing via two different review is very problematic since lighting condition and equipment aren't the same.

Overall a very nice performance for the price but I'd opt for the 1080 screen and the second caddy for my needs.

 

Guys, I have no issues with my laptop .. I had it for 2 days now played AvP and CoD, l4dead with all high settings.. its amazing how there isnt any lag and the resolution is great.
Screen is very nice , bright and the view angles are good.. no one should complain unless they have a defective unit..
U get all the power you need with this BB laptop.. if you need extra more than u use on a regular basis.. get the fully loaded A1/A2.. they're not going to blow the BB version away..

I opted for the 1600x900 because I had a sony FHD and I hated it, everytime I had to increase the text size to be able to read for long time.

if u care for your eyes no one should use a FHD on a laptop .. u can hook up
an external FHD screen and enjoy it.. my 2cents..

5 Starts for the BB laptop so far..

lookin to cutomize it .. with the 300$ I saved from canceling the A1 I ordered on Jan 10 before it was shipped..

 

I think Hael's description of the G73's screen color accuracy and brightness are spot on... i had a 7805u and the display was not very good. I think the viewing angles are nearly identical to the Asus but the G73's wins over easily for me due to it being LED, the color saturation and accuracy (with minor tweaking in the catalyst software). My 7805u had slight washed out appearance from any angle. But my gateway display was a 1440x900..

I'm very satisfied with the G73. If they cut any corners to bring the price down it was probably on the display - BUT I'm more than satisified with the display because I've had much worse

 

That just about sums up my thoughts, if you are not tolerant to a lower resolution/spec screen then get an external monitor or get the A1/A2 model.

 

I have to check one out in person before I can seal the deal.
To bad my BB don't have any yet boooo

 

my results... with and without turbo mode ( my ram is 1066 )

Ran this 2 times.. CPU still shows 7.0

 

Hi everyone, I bought the G73-05 on Friday and have been mostly happy with it. It's very fast (takes about 15 seconds from turning on the laptop to seeing the desktop with all icons and system tray programs loaded). I installed Wow and have had the chance to try the graphics card and it has worked very well with one exception:
The system has frozen on me twice while playing wow. The screen turns into grayish looking lines and I had to restart it. If I am not mistaken this usually indicates a problem with the graphics card. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

Here is mine with my SSD.

 

I haven't upgraded anything on my laptop, but my subscores are:

Processor: 7.1
Memory: 7.1
Graphics: 7.2
Gaming Graphics: 7.2
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

I'm not on my laptop right now but I can post a picture later. I also used 3DMark earlier and did a trial test. I didn't know how to test it exactly (my friend was the one telling me to test it to begin with) and I turned on TwinTurbo (I don't even know what that does), not Turbo (there's a difference right?) It was incredibly slow where the CPU was in the 3000s and Graphics were in the 2000s. I tested again today turning on Turbo and not TwinTurbo, and I believe CPU was 9801 and Graphics was 7505. I don't understand the numbers really other than reading them I'll test it again later when I'm not in class and when I have my laptop physically in front of me.

 

Agreed.
I was originally looking at the G72 because I just couldn't shell out $1600 on a laptop right now.
Luckily Best Buy pops in with this variation for $1200. I had the biggest smile on my face and could justify an extra $200 for this. All the core features are there, i7, 5870, DDR3. 6gb vs 8gb didn't matter much to me becuase I rarely cap the 4GB in my desktop which is even DDR2.
I haven't seen a 1080p 17" in person so I can't compare the two but I am more than happy with this screen and the entire laptop for that matter. This thing is f'n awesome!!!

 

Yes what Thauch said, its f'n awesome!

I can finally play games ON my lap and not roast my sack lol.... Heck I even use the wrist pad area as a mouse pad, its big enough.

Ikas I know you want temps, but I cant seem to use hwmonitor to monitor temps... gpu doesnt show up with version 4.0 ... any recommendations?

 

Can someone do me a favor and see how high the CPU is OC'd when using the TURBO feature.
Great job guys
Keep those benches coming

 

Looks decent enough considering the price point. What brand is the screen?

 

How does the 900p screen compare to the 900P screen on an Alienware M17x? Anyone have any ideas?

 

The Twin Turbo Mode (top left seems to overclock the memory. for me it is stock at 665Mhz and when I turn on Twin Turbo Mode it overclocks to 711Mhz.

The actual power 4 gear overclocks to 2.6 -2.7Mhz, The CPU does this on its own so I am not sure what benefit is except that it is constant.

 

The alienware likely has a better screen. I've had both a 1080 and a low rez screen Asus notebooks. Neither of them could hold a candle to a true "premium" screen.

 

Well the i7-720 turbos that on it's own when needed.
So not sure exactly the Power4Gear Turbo adds that the CPU does on it's own.
Little weird that the CPU scores were lower when you used P4G.
What screen res did you guys use when running 3DMARK06? 1280x800?

 

You still have link to your utility to check the model?

 

please do your research.

 

How is everyone liking their Best Buy model?

So far im loving mine. Wish the viewing angles were better, but the color and brightnes on the screen are great. The speed on this thing is crazy.

 

What are you talking about?
Doesn't the i7-720 adjust it clocks from 1.6Ghz to a maximum of 2.8Ghz.
Base clock speed=1.6Ghz
Peak Turbo Boost speed
4 active cores =1.73Ghz
3 active cores =1.73Ghz
2 active cores =2.4 Ghz
1 active core =2.8 Ghz
Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

You are not wrong. I wonder if he was referring to something else?

 

I'm loving my new beast. Im installing crysis warhead right now. I ran the trial 3d mark 06 and with stock and turbo mode and battery in perfomance mode, i was able to get 13,156. The only problems i have had is firefox is very sluggish sometimes want react at all. And i think the touchpad is a little too big, takes some getting used to. But for the price I can't complain.

 

I'll have some benches for you today, been super busy this week.

I'll get a native 1600x900 benches with screenies.

If you're interested in external display benches, I'll also run it at 1366x768 since this is the native display resolution of my external LCD tv I sometimes use.

Does Furmark record GPU temps on the 5870m?

 

I dont think it so, at least the current version, but you can use HWINFO (see the sensor tab) and run it while you runing furmark and it should record the max temps.

 

awesome ty Abula

Ok so I ran native res @ 1600x900 and stock GPU/CPU 3dm06 - 12447.

Also, I have a typical 720p LCD tv that has a native 1360x768 vga resolution - 3dm06 - 13118.

I didnt overclock the GPU or the CPU (didnt use turbo mode) ... I'm not a big fan of overclocking but if you twist my arm I'll run some turbo mode benches later today

*edit* @jfuze - I'm LOVING my g73! I'm so damn picky and indecisive when it comes to gaming lappys, for the first time in a long time, I feel I've made a smart purchase! The cooling alone is so worth the extra $200 for me, upgrading from the G60jx ... it really is night and day difference with regards to cooling and performance .. Me personally, I wouldn't want any higher resolution than 1600x900 because of the performance hit taken at higher resolutions.

 

Thanks for those!
Keep em coming! Fans pretty silent on this model?

 

oh I don't think the fans even get to half speed... very quiet =)

 

Never had a laptop with 1600x900 res, do games support it or are there black bars to compensate?

 

1600 x 900 is a supported resolution for most (if not all) modern games. No bars.

 

the only fps game I've played in the last 7 years that didn't support wide screen resolutions (unreal tournament '99 even supported LCD wide resolutions) was BF2... you had to edit the shortcut path to execute wide resolutions, refresh and proper field of view... so most games made the last 10 years, with the exception of bf2 or 2142, detect the native res, fov and refresh rate - full screen and proper aspect ratio... bf2 was a pain in the arse

 

Agreed. Back then I was using a Matrox Analog Triple Head and playing in a 3840x1024 resolution in BF2 was not fun at all.

 

Turbo boost Technology will overclock as less cores are used such as a single threaded application will run with the CPU at a higher frequency than a multi threaded application. however if the thermal envelope is not reached the CPU will still overclock with a multi threaded application.

In theory if the CPU does not hit its thermal envelope it will overclock to a maximum frequency with all cores active.

At least this is how I understand things.

 

How are people getting these? I called a couple of local Best Buys a few days ago and they both said it wasn't out yet (one specified April 4 as the release date).

Do you just show up at the store and demand that they take your money?

 

I called ONE store... gave the skew, asked if it showed in stock... got a yes or no answer ... if yes, how many... if no, which stores in the area had them... go up to store where in stock, ask for the skew and buy (dfw area)... it was fairly easy if you don't mind a phone call or two and waiting 5-10 minutes on hold...

they are "not out" yet on the display here... but they are behind the glass or wire cages if they haven't sold out yet

 

Picked mine up yesturday from BB. Went to BB on Sunday and didnt have. Then I went back on Tuesday because I was in the area and they had it. Just wondering if the 2yr replacement plan is a good idea, but the only thing is i'll be moving out of the country soon and I dont know if it covers it internationally.

 

I'm so tempted to open the one I bought and check it out, but I'm not sure if people would want more to buy a sealed new in box unit or one that had been opened and checked out...

 

I just got my new G73JH this afternoon. So far I'm loving it.

I haven't really had a chance to do anything with it other then surf the web, but using wifi and no battery yeilded 2 hours and I had 20% left on the battery. This was on the default Power4Gear Entertainment power setting and the powerboost button off.

The matte finish and rubberized surfaces are great. The keyboard is nice as well and the huge touchpad is great. I played the default windows music files and the speakers are quite acceptable. The screen could be better, but is is far nicer than the Sony VCP115 which Best Buy sells for $150 more (took that back and replaced it with the G73).

Overall, it's quick, snappy, and draws heads. The catch will be whether or not it will fit in my backpack when I get home.

Also, does anyone know a model number for the Asus bluetooth module? And if I can buy one somewhere? The Asus store does not have the G73JH listed yet.

 

The Best Buy warranty has a few things going for it that other programs often don't have. Accidental damage and the first battery replacement. One good drop to break the screen will save you $400-600 easily and the branded batteries for most laptops are often $150+, though you can get the straight from Hong Kong knockoffs for $50ish from ebay.

I went with the 3 year for the battery and accidental coverage. Also the Geek Squad will do things like virus and malware cleanups if I manage to actually get some and I end up too lazy to clean it myself. Plus the normal daily wear and tear is covered.

 

How much was the 3-year with accidental coverage? You can get a third-party warranty like that on a $1200 laptop that for $300, but the convenience of walking into a store is worth some premium.

 

@GTO Greg
I thought this was for you bro!
I want one, but I need some hands on time and check things out in person first.
Why you selling it?

 

I am on the fence deciding to go with the BB version of the G73. I really want the 1080 screen, but the BB version does not give me that.

Here is the rub..... I have $1,400 in BB rewards, which would take my out of pocket down below $500 (pretty good deal for a G73).

My question - If I buy the BB version and down the road I want to upgrade the screen to 1080, can that be done?

 

So I happened to stop in at a Best Buy last night, and they actually had an RBBX-05 display unit all set up and ready for people to play with. So of course I did.

Overall, I liked just about everything I saw. Some people here were complaining about the viewing angles on the screen, but they seemed fine to me. Everything was snappy, even with the whole Microsoft Office suite, a few web pages, Windows Media Player, and one or two other programs open. The only stutter was some HD video from a website, but I would guess that had more to do with the web site, because the whole page crashed once or twice.

Here's my problem: I'd rather have one of the "original" models like the A2, mostly for the full HD screen and the full Asus warranty over the Best Buy model, but my budget doesn't stretch past about $1,300. It seems to me that with these units selling out so fast, and presumably selling out for weeks to come, no one's going to lower the prices on those for months. Anyone have any reason to believe differently?

Also, does anyone know if the Best Buy model is exactly the same as the earlier ones like the A2 with the exception of some specs? What I mean is, is it the exact same case/cooling design/type of screen etc, just with different resolution/RAM/etc? Nothing is lower quality?

Decisions, decisions...