Whats the difference between G73-A1 and A2?

The title says it all, im leaning more on buying one of these rather then the m17x beast, I figure the Xfire isnt going to give me THAT big of a boost, and for the price of a similar spec'd machine like the asus G73 I dont know why anyone would buy that, if only asus or someone else had XFIRE 5870s id be set. But anyways whats the difference between the 2 the A1 and A2?

 

A1 has a bluray reader/DVD burner combo drive, A2 has a normal DVD burner.

 

Thats what I figured, the only thing I could see different with the specs.


What about this CBIL version, whats that?

 

Actually, a XFire 5870 setup would allow the unit to have longer life usage as new games come down the pipe. Plus, you can easily haggle with the online Dell rep to get 30% off a new unit.

 

Did this end up in the wrong place?

 

No, the OP was debating a G73 vs M17x

 

Then good point. AW at 30% off is certainly more attractive. But still looking at a significant investment increase.

 

I hate dell and its reps. Worst customer service experience I ever had in my whole life period when I bought my three U2410 monitors from them.

I will never ever ever buy anything from dell again unless there is no other choice or there product is clean cut the best one on the market for the price.

 

QFT!

However, X-fired 5870's will be a HUGE performance increase over a single GPU...this is for sure.

Plus, the Alienwares are generally better build machines...the G73's seem to be an endless barrage of problems and issues...

 

the m17x is no angel.. it has a ton of problems too.... especially when it first came out with GTX280M SLI.. now , its much better but still have latency and other issues..

 

Agreed. Also, the US courts just released paperwork proving that dell has been actively lying to their customers to avoid doing warranty replacements IN THEIR BUSINESS LINE.

I (sort of) understand lying to a customer when they keep calling in with problems. I even (sort of) understand the whole nvidia mixup with the 86/8800 underfill problems and the dell response (a bios update that turned on the fans sooner, so the laptop would last until the warranty ran out). But that isn't to mission critical, thousands of dollars of lost time/revenue for a BUSINESS. At least with a consumer, it's one laptop replacement and a hard drive swap. But that sort of massive computer failure could destroy a startup, and thousands of dollars in personal savings.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate dell and their customer service. Like Chris rock said "I wouldn't do it .... but I understand".

Why would you actively support such business practices? Is saving $50 worth supporting a company that may or may not have sold you defective goods and will probably lie to you to avoid fixing it?

 

Agree. But indeed Dell makes super design laptops like SXPS and offers Full HD screen starting from studio to AW. No doubt Asus also offers best components but lacks in quality of screen/ display panel. What is the use of providing a BD drive if the screen can not show 1080p quality pictures ??? And if you want a Full HD screen from Asus, you have to spend atleast $1400 USD with limited options !!!!

 

I beg to differ The Hannstar FullHD screens are one of the best out there short of a RGBLED. Great contrast, very good viewing angles, great motion speed for gaming. And the G73 comes in plenty of configurations, for anywhere from $1000-2000, depending on upgrade options.

For other Asus models, I cannot speak of, since anything under a G73 is unimportant to me.

 

Ok so let me just give you a low down on my situation and everyone can weigh in. I need a laptop for school, and my ps3 is kicking the bucket (artifact errors in graphics), so im getting a gaming laptop to fill in for both. I have narrowed it down to either the G73 with Blu ray, or the M17X.

The M17X I have priced out in Canadian funds on their site roughly comes to $3000.00 ish, thats the general ball park, I have it customed with a blu ray drive , the 5870s in xfire, the RGB LED sreen, 8gb of ram because for some reason 6 isnt an option anymore, the expanded wifi card, and 1tb in raid (again appearently you cant just get 500gb because that would be enough for me for now,I can upgrade later).

So from what I can compare for me the G73 is a better option for virtually the same stuff in it and half the cost ( I can find it for 1600 Canadian). For people saying I can haggle I am confident in my haggling skills but not sure if I could get 30% off the M17X. I like that the case is actual metal on it too and not like a flimsy platic, but the new drivers for the m17x isnt working properly with the Xfire and there hasnt been much said since the original post on the m17x a while ago saying dell and ATI are looking into it. So im caught between the G73 and the M17X. If I could get the M17x for 2100 like alot of people are saying is possible with haggle then ya I might aswell splurg, but the drivers still scare me a bit. Also on descrete graphics and everything set to low I need atleast 2 + hours on the laptop to word process at school, Ive been asking around and theres lots of plugs though appearently so im not super worried. So thoughts, concerns, anything insightful would be nice


EDIT: Totally forgot to add, the screen/panel isnt too important, I will be doing most of my gaming from my 52 inch sharp 1080p. I will do the odd gaming on the go but most of my gaming sessions will be hooked up to the big screen. 1920X1080p is enough resolution for me which the G73 is equiped with.

 

Well, Dell is famous for 20% off coupons, and the operator will just tack it on without a fuss just by mentioning it, and you can then get her to take off another 10% easily enough. The online prices are over-inflated already.

 

I think the EPP codes start with 3196 _ _ _ ...

 

I guess tomorrow ive got to make a few phone calls and start setting things in stone. Im torn though, really tough decision to make, and you guys dont make it any easier

 

I was thinking the same last week. Ended up going with the G73jh-a1 from Gentech. I have more confidence in the cooling, and like the look/feel better on the G73 after feeling em both up at microcenter. Also didn't really feel like going through the hassle over the phone with Dell, and have had great communication with Ken at gentech so far. Hoping it will ship in the next few days!

The only thing I like more on the AW is the slot loaded drive. The metal casing was nice too, but it's piecemail, and I like how the g73 looks more uniform. Either machine is great, so if you're willing to put in the work for a good price on a AW go for it. Best thing I can suggest is to go down and feel both of them in person, as they will probably perform pretty similar.

 

I dont think theres a dell store in winnipeg to speek of, but ive heard bestbuys might have a G73 to take a look at atleast. The 5870s in Xfire would be nice.... but im not gonna freak if I cant get a price around 2100 for it.

 

My Computer Life Cycle:

Gateway(don't remember model):2000-2005(still was in decent shape, I just wanted an update)
Dell(don't remember model) :2001-2005 (numerous issues that Dell couldn't solve.)
Gateway 836 GM(current) 2005-2010
Asus G73jh A-1 2010(being delivered tom)-2010-?

I've been pretty lucky with my desktops, except the Dell, I hope I continue the luck with my first laptop the G73. I had numerous issues with my Dell, and Dell's customer service was abysmal. A good friend of mine had more recent Dell problems, they tried to solve his issues but kept sending the wrong parts. I'm not the most computer savvy in the world, but come on how can you send the wrong hardware or incompatible hardware to your OWN computers, don't you know what is in your computers that you are mass distributing. He finally sent the whole thing back for a refund, and bought a Mac laptop, and is happy. Sorry for the tangent I just can't stand Dell.

Here is the YouTube clip of my friend complaining about Dell, pretty funny in a weird way, what can I say he is a weird guy. YouTube - Ghost Rants Episode 1: The Ghost on DELL Computers

 

Please let us know which Asus laptop model comes with in $1000 with a minimum Full HD screen ???

 

Refurbed FullHD ones. The cheapest new FullHD model was $1400

 

***** lol *****