just about to buy G73-3DE, have I thought of everything?

Hey guys,

Been waiting for pay to order my new laptop to replace my MBP. This si what it looks like:

Asus G73JW-3DE 17.3" FHD 120Hz/NV GTX460M 1.5GB/740QM/8GB/1TB 7200 SSD Hybrid/BD-Burner/ In Stock $1,979.00 $1,979.00
Availability: In Stock
External USB HD: None
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR
Gaming Mouse: Included
Backpack: Included
Drivers DVD: Inclueded
30 days Zero Bright Dot Guaranteed: Yes through Asus
Packaging: Shipping with Double Box
Warranty: Asus 2 Year Limited Global Warranty
Asus Support & Service: 24/7 Toll-Free, Both Way Shipping
24/7 Support hotline: 1-888-678-3688 (except holidays)
Accidental Damage Warranty: ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty
Webcam: Built-in 2.0 MP Webcam
Additional Battery: No Additional Battery
Car Adapter: None
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Pre-installed
AC Adapter and Battery: Included
Additional AC Adapter: No Additional AC Adapter
nVidia 3D Vision Kit: One Spare nVidia Wireless 3D Shutter Glasses $139.00 $139.00
Windows Recovery Disk: Not included
Thermal Compound: Stock OEM Thermal Compound
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM DX11
CPU: i7-740QM, 1.73~2.93GHz, 2.5 GT/s, 45nm, 6MB, 45W
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333 (2G X 4)
Keyboard backlight mod: Standard Bright White Backlit
ASWD Keys backlit modification: Red : $15 $15.00 $15.00
Wireless HDMI: None
WiFi: Intel Ultimate-N 6300 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless LAN $75.00 $75.00
Screen: 17.3 inch 16:9 1920x1080 FHD LED 120Hz, Matte-type
Dead Pixel Warranty: Standard Manufacturer Dead Pixel Warranty
Primary Hard Drive: 128GB Crucial C300 Solid State Drive SATA III $253.00 $253.00
Secondary Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate XT 7200RPM Hybrid Drive
Optical Drive: 4X Blu-Ray Re-Writer/8X DVDRW Super Multi
Edit Options
Total: $2,461.00

Sorry for the formatting.

So basically i've got for the SSD for the main, I hear the speed difference really is worth the (overly) expensive price difference and the sacrifice of space. I've gone for the Hybrid drive as the secondary, although I am worried about the lag spikes people have with them, considering I am going to end up installing programs on their eventually due to the tiny size of the SSD.

I changed my mind many times but went for 8gbs of RAM. The difference in value/efficiency/power of that and 10 or 16 gbs isn't worth the cost, seems to be the general consensus.

I chose the better wifi card as my house is setup for 5ghz, and i do have a network storage bay.

I got the extra shutter specs just because i'll end up getting them at some point, so why not now.

Is there anything else I am missing? Or am I good to go

I also didn't bother with the repaste. Good move or not?

 

Repaste for (75 was it?), is debatable, but you can always do that yourself in 2-3 hours.

I don't know why you ordered a spare Nvidia 3d Shader glasses (unless you want to watch/play a game w/ 2 ppl or something). As for the WASD mod (you can do it yourself easily with colored transparent paper (can be found at dollar stores for around 1buck for a stack), there's video/tutorials on how to do your own keyboard lighting mod. The wifi, is overkill imo, N-6200 will do nicely and I think it is a lot cheaper? (order it yourself for 20-30 dollars to save more). Personally, I wouldn't order an SSD. Why? The laptop default configuration comes with 2x Momentus XT 500GB, they take one away (without giving u the full retail discount for the drive), and put in a SSD. You end up paying for a Momentus XT 500GB that you never get, so I'd just buy the SSD myself and install it (takes like 2min), and you end up with a 500GB Momentus XT that you can use as a external with a enclosure or put it in say... your PS3 (if you have one). Everything else seems fine.

 

That's some sound advice.

I only got the extra glasses because hey, this thing does 3D, me and my GF tend to watch a film almost every night religiously in bed, maybe one night we watch in 3d. Plus 3d is still such a novelty, so there will always be people wanting to try it out more than one at a time. So if i'm going to get it eventually, I may as well get it now.

The coloured keys was just because I want to have a hint of gaming in there, as I will no doubt use this mostly for work, but i'm a bit of a hardcore gamer. Besides 15 bucks saves me the hassle of doing it myself. It's not the backlight mod I am doing, just a simply change of the WASD keys. You are right tho, I should just do it myself.

Edit: I thought the 6300 was the only card that actually had true N, with 3 antenna's? Like I said, those extra speeds over wifi could save me a lot of hassle when I need to grab some footage or something of my network bay but cba to go and get plugged into my network.

As for the HDD, that's a very interesting way of looking it at! Can't believe I hadn't thought of it like that. The only thing for me is, i'm from the UK, and the same SSD here, is £200, which is £40 more than what I would be getting. However it seems that that isn't really much of a saving, going by the price of the hybrids. My only concern would be installing it, not because i'm not capable, but because I know it's rather finicky with the G series, and needing makeshift drive bays put in.

Hmm. You may have just changed my mind of the HDD.

Oh, other than one thing. Lag spikes. I hear nothing but bad things about the problems with the Moms. lag spikes where they sleep and have to spin up again. As far as I know a definite fix hasn't been done yet.

THAT sort of problem would definitely ruin this rig for. Make games unplayable, slow my render times of my work etc.

 

A quick firmware update for the Momentus XT found on Seagate's website (google "Seagate Momentus XT firmware update") will fix all those issues (also update to the latest BIOS if it isn't already). As for the extra drive caddy you're worried about, doesn't the -3DE model come with 2x 500GB Momentus XT? If so, there will be 2 caddies. In terms of the delicacy of the case when you do the swap, I'd say its more sturdy than most laptops so there shouldn't be a problem. The HDD bays are just one panel away for the G73. In terms of N-6300 being true N network capable, that part is true. It is the only one that supports the 5.8Ghz frequency I believe (or was it 5Ghz?). That is however, if you have a router that supports Dual-band (one 2.4Ghz and other 5.8Ghz). This is particularly useful if you do then. Because of how wireless network works, if a device using 802.11b connects to the network everything will downgrade to 802.11b, so its useful if there's 2 different band as the N network will stay at its intended speed. Someone else more knowledgeable on this issue should be able to answer your concerns with definite accuracy.

As for the choice of SSD, I don't know why XoticPC (it looks like you're ordering from them), offer the Crucial SATA III, when the motherboard only supports SATA II. I'd suggest getting the OCZ Vertex 2, it runs on similar speeds to the Crucial and it should be cheaper by $20-30. There's no reason to pay for SATA III when the SSD doesn't even max out SATA II 3Gbit/s bandwidth limit plus the motherboard doesn't support SATA III in the first place.