Which G73 for me?

Well, i am looking to make a purchase, most likely the G73 unless i get to the store and the size is bigger than i expected. I did measurements, and it seems to be nice, but who knows.

Anyways, the models i have to choose from are:
$1699.99 G73JW-A1
$1599.99 G73JH-B1
$967.97 G73JH-RBBX05 (this is refurbished) - Buy the Asus G73JH-RBBX05 Refurbished Notebook PC at TigerDirect.ca

I am going to be playing WoW, maybe the new Star Wars mmorpg, maybe a shooter in the future, and for school use as well.

 

Hopefully you're not the type that needs to play WoW everyday. If so, look for another laptop because odd's are you'll be out of commission a few months over the next year while kicking yourself in the for buying the laptop.

Plenty people know what I'm talking about...

 

Many, many, many buyers have no issues at all. Primarily because they use the system stock, don't upgrade frequently and use an external mouse so the trackpad can be disabled. The keyboard issues do annoy some folks but again there are not 500,000 people sending these systems back.

The JW and SW models use nvidia so all the ATI related issues don't apply. Personally my machine hasn't been down since I bought it. I tinkered with it and updated some of the stuff but once it was fully stable I just left it. I haven't installed a new driver since October.

However, I am considering a Sager or Alienware that would allow me to have virtually unlimited upgrade options but I think I'd miss the silence of the G73.

Cheers,

 

Nah i don't need to play WoW everyday at all.. just a weekend thing.
I would like to play it maxed out though, or somewhat maxed and have a good screen.

And why would you say i would be out of commission? :S

What do i need in the laptop? and how much should i look to spend?

 

Thinly veiled reference to some folks RMA troubles. ASUS is slowwww

Cheers,

 

I'm quite happy with the JH at the moment, my RMA was terrible, but the problems I had are now end-user fixable.

 

What is this RMA trouble you speak of?

And how easy is it to fix? how long does it take?

You regret buying your Asus? :S

Okay, found out that RMA is return to manufacturer.

Don't care about that, i want to know if the laptop is good or not? Will it last, and how much tweaking is needed out of the box? Could i just run it like it came out the box without any trouble?

Secondly, would you choose the Asus G73JH or the Sandy bridge one?
If choosing between the Asus G73jh or the Msi GX660R-060Us which would you choose?

 

Get ASUS You really cant tell the difference between those 3.

 

Yeah, between the three models you've listed, you won't see a difference in performance.

Eventually, you'll have to update your bios on all three models, since there is a keyboard lag problem that requires a bios update (that isn't applied at the factory, for some reason).

The sandybridge one is faster for your CPU, but you will never see your computer slowing down because of an i720/i740 instead of a 2nd gen i7-740. The graphics cards ... well, I'm partial to nvidia myself, but I've got an ATI g73 and it's fine.

 

Buy the model with the better screen resolution.

 

If you are computer smart and like to fix things yourself and not worry about some jerkoff doing everything for you, i highly reccomend the g73 JH. I bought mine refurbished for $1000 about 6 months ago. I have had a few minor problems but with the right amount of research was able to fix every problem ive had by coming to these forums. Spending 1000 bucks for a laptop and then being able to learn about it and make it last for as long as you want is much more rewarding then spending an extra 600 bucks for a few more GBs of ram and a different graphics card.

All in all....despite having a few problems, challenging myself to learn more about computers and fix these problems has only given me a rewarded feeling for having a baller laptop and paying less than most people pay for a mid-high range one. I make no regrets about my purchase of a refurb JH

 

Yeah, you don't even need the other hard disk, 1tb is too much for a laptop and you can expand it with external hdd. About ATI or NVIDIA the 5870 has a better benchmark but not that noticeable.

 

Well, i don't need a 1TB hard drive at all. Its pointless. But the refurb one for 900 has a 1600 x 900 screen, so its not the full 1080p.

I am not much of a screen fanatic, so depending on how it looks in store i MAY buy it. I am against purchasing refurbs though, lots of bad experience in the past. But to save the extra couple hundred dollars it may not be a bad idea.

 

What problems are there with Asus G73's?

What do i need to do, and what should i expect?
Any links?

Appreciate it

 

Since I made the obscure comment, I'll explain my experience so far.

Bought my G73JH-X1 from Micro Center for $1399.00 July 16th 2010.

August 4th - First RMA made to replace the power charger, it stopped working unless it was plugged in and altered "just right" which was nearly impossible to do.

September 28th - Second RMA request started to be processed, the Trackpad on the laptop was obsurd from the get go and I finally got fedup (started a post that makes front page quite often).

September 29th - Third RMA started, my "Replaced" charger went out, but I had given up on it and used a charger from my Gateway I previously owned, but decided since I'm RMA'ing my laptop might as well RMA this.

October 17th - Got my laptop back from RMA, Trackpad works great, system seems stable, but I start to noticed significant lag in typing. Doesn't bother me that much as I'm a fairly slow typer anyways.

October 19th - I got my charger back, yes it took a while because they were out of stock.

November 2nd - "Replaced" charger dies again. Back to Gateway charger.

January 6th - Wake up in the morning, start my laptop so I can work, and it wouldn't boot. Lights went on but bios never showed (today's my birthday, what a great gift).

January 7th - Start the RMA process again, send laptop to Asus Indy (never do this).

January 19th - RMA status updates to "Repairing".

January ??? - I plan to RMA my charger again, but am just debating to buy a different one since I have to pay for return shipping on the old charger.

And that's where I stand. My laptop has been in "Repairing" status for 10 days, has been out of my hands for 3 weeks.

Reading the reviews of Asus Indy, it seems the odds are I am going to have to setup another RMA with the Freemont Cali facility once I get it back.

If I had to make the choice again, I'd have saved up another 1,000 bucks and bought a Clevo. If my laptop doesn't come back from Asus Indy in prestine condition and lasts for another year or two without me having to RMA gain, I refuse to buy another Asus product.

As for links, just read the first 2-3 pages of titles on this forum. 50% of them are issue posts.

 

Maybe somethings wrong with your power, 2-3rma's for ac adaptor? Wow. Do you like live in a powerplant where Ac power is not stable?

 

Lol, I'll call ComEd "Hey your power keeps killing my laptop charger, oh btw it's happened at 2 house" since i've moved since i bought the laptop

The Gateway charger works fine, has been for 4+ years. These Asus ones are lasting weeks, sorta pathetic.

 

Haha. Hope that's the last rma for your ac adaptor. :S

 

Wow, that is a lot or RMA's for the ac adapter..

I had that problem somewhat happen to my Gateway, and i had to send it in. Good thing it took like 2 weeks though, but i went to the repair centre and dropped it off in person.

So.... i am very confused what to do here.

 

FWIW, I got the best buy model last summer (I dunno, July or August or so), and I've been playing games, mostly CoH, on it ever since, probably 5-6 days a week at least a couple of hours. No problems at all, except video performance with some games in windowed mode.

 

Had my "refurb" A1 for 3 months now (its called "refurb" cause it was open box). It's been holding up great after I got everything updated. Hopefully it'll last for another 2 years when this laptop is EOL, which by then would've made my $1000 investment worth it.