what to look out for in a g73

hi i am buying another g73 tomorrow. however i need to find out what to look out for in it (things that could be wrong). ps dallers if you are on please message me.

 

Another JH, or a JW/SW, the things to look out for aren't the same.

Also, Dallers is now Yiddo...

 

Loose hinge, faulty keyboard, and bad trackpad buttons. Those are the major hardware issues I've had with the G73.

 

Try and avoid the best buy model of this notebook, they have a lesser res screen and a less ram. stock G73's come with 8gbs and the best buy models have 6 I think. also they don't come with a mouse or back pack.

 

its a jh. also the one that i am going to buy is this one.

ASUS G73JH with targus bag, i7 quad, 640gb, 8gb Ram, 17", HD 5870 | eBay

erm if you read his advert basically its got damaged via the courier. i am going to test it out tomorrow before i buy it. is there any software i can use to test if the gpu is working fine. also is there any software that can run a diagnostic test or something to let me know that things like the fan etc are working fine.

 

You just use SMC fan control and ramp up the fan speed, and they should both turn on.

Also, use HWMonitor to check temps.

 

As per Tijo said I have changed my name because it died with my JH.

This is now my Clevo name.

As per my PM OP are you buying another JH? when you have one already in your SIG?

The SW has minimal problems from what I have seen only a couple of minor issues that need fixing. But as mentioned stay away from the Best Buy Models as they will be a mile worse than your current JH.

People have already mentioned a few of the problems above with the JH but all are fixable and the GPU heating problem is not always a problem although its important to check the temps to see if it is. If I was list all of the problems and fixes myself personally.

Touchpad sticking/irratic behaviour:

People have seen different results by conducting different fixes but the only real way of fixing this is to dissassemble and remove the silver film stuck to the bottom and clean the sticky mess off the underside of the touchpad. Latest synaptics drivers and turning off the features helps otherwise. The toucpad buttons are generally crap.

GPU Overheating + Problems:

This was caused from poor compound application and is normally fixed by a repaste although the poor heatsink/thermal pad setup was never great although most see very good temps after a repaste and keeping it dust free helps a ton.

Latest Vbios and drivers are a must, the latest Vbios .93 fixed the GSOD problems.

Also update to the latest BIOS 213 and that should really cover most of the problems along with the latest drivers for everything. All of the issues with the JH are fixable if you have the time otherwise as others mentioned you could look into the SW.

Regarding your purchase whatever model it is make sure it is in full working order, damaged in transit is normally bad and you are not going to know what real damage has occured unless you look inside if there is noise when you shake it I would say dont risk it but that is your choice.

P.s Anyone else get this? I have had a knightmare day on top of a knightmare week on top of a knightmare couple of months. But when you come on NBR and start replying to this forum problems just evaporate and are temporarily forgotten? Damn fine website this is.

 

thanks for that. yeah my current one has had no problems what so ever. il run those software's on this new g73 and see how it goes. i will also run a few games on it and see if the temps stay below 90 degrees.

 

The G73jh the OP has in his sig is the Best Buy version. So is the one he's interested in getting.

One question for the OP: Why would you get this used and damaged G73 for that price when you can get a factory refurb here for less?

Here's a good test: Run Prime95 torture test and FurMark Burn-In simultaneously for a few hours. If your computer doesn't crash or the CPU/GPU doesn't burn up you should be good.

One thing to look for is that the hard drive is gonna be slow. The one you're interested in has the same 5400 RPM drive as mine. Overall performance will be slower and there will be stuttering or hiccuping in applications that load large amounts of data from the hard drive (e.g. modern games).

 

i cant order it from there cos i ordered my current g73 from america and duty and tax cost me a lot. thanks for the software, i will use them and see how it runs. if i raid 0 the hdd will it help?

 

RAID 0 will probably help, but last time I checked, my G73JH only has 1x640 GB 5400RPM HDD not 2x320. I would recommend you get another identical hard drive before running a RAID 0 configuration.

Probably better to just get an SSH or an SSD; that's what I'm thinking of doing.

 

Hey, i just got a G73JH-a1, what i can tell you about it is that its good with stock drivers with bios 213 .
But then again when updating drivers you ll run into problems not many thoe.
GOSD and keyboard backlight stopped working .
When you get it see your bios version if its not 213 just flash it, it sounds harder then it is, but then again there is that risk of failure that people talk about, but it doesnt seem to happen alot, went smooth with me .
Do the first 2 steps of this link :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/539984-what-do-your-new-g73jh.html
Its good cuz Valkerie just dont give you links to drivers and bios, he will tell you what your doing and explain what your options are .
For me the Vbios links from chastity post are broken for now so i downloaded this:
http://croggesserver.se/Downloads/fix_od2.rar
That link you will download the Chastity Vbios version with the lower frequency battery saving clocks and it will have the Overdrive option on your ATI app .
I downloaded that HP Tool that Valkirie has on Step1 to make my usb drive bootable and extracted fix_od2.zip to my USB drive after, rebooted my pc, booted into usb drive and entered "od2.bat" and it was done ... No more GSOD that i had after updating to ATI CCC 11.11 from ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver .
Make sure you install ATK Package, its the application that will make your Fn+key work well and it will make your Keyboard backlight turn on by Fn+F4 . Get Power4Gear Hybrid
Ofc Chastity page is a must !
Some of his links to important stuff are broken for me as in 2/12/2011, i managed to find his files some other places .
Hope this helps .

 

wow thanks for the links and guide fusk4. rep added

 

The most important thing IMO is keeping the "inner sanctum" of this mighty fine machine free of dust!

The wifey hairdryer fixes this - on cold air!

@yiddo: What happened to your JH?

edit: Found your "Farewell G73" thread!

 

yw, i just tryd to narrow down the 100 posts with 600 pages each after i researched .
You might want also this link:
Hotfile.com: One click file hosting: infinst_autol_9.2.0.1025.exe
This is the "Intel Chipset INF for Series 5 v9.2.0.1025" full instalation on chastity's page that has the broken link for now; I managed to find that one .
That Seagate ST9500420AS 500GB HDD v5 Firmware NEW! that is also on his hosting site i still didn't update, i can't figure if the files i find are actually the same ones so i didn't want to risk the hard drive .

 

octiceps, I would never recommend anyone to buy a used notebook off of ebay or anywhere else. but some people feel the need to get one cheap so. I just try and offer my best help on the subject. ya refurbished would be the best way to go. I agree with you

 

Just in case you didn't notice, according to his profile, the OP lives in the UK. He might not have access to deals similar to the ones we get in north america. We have it easy as far as tech is concerned here, it is readily available and inexpensive. In Europe, the situation isn't as good.

 

a lot of them are only 1600x900 resolution, so definitely check the monitor resolution

also see if the vbios is updated

 

I thought the Asus G series laptops did not support RAID?

 

They don't, well software Raid, but that's pretty much useless.

 

Hi folks,

I just got a G73jh, it came with 211 bios and 500gb 7200rpm(when the refurb. said 640gb 5400rpm) and 1333 of DDR3.

I have a big question, is it worth flashing it to 213 from 211? and thake the risk ?

 

Only if you have problems with the touch pad. 213 fix's problems with that device. as far as I understand.

 

thanks all for your help. i have received my new laptop and updated vbios and bios. installed new ati 11.12 drivers and got new sound drivers. laptop is running fine. only problem left to deal with is the screen. i have made a thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/632650-asus-g73-screen.html#post8164473 thanks.