Advice on an Asus

Alright, guys...I've only ever bought Dell laptops, but I find that they've been lagging behind recently in keeping their prices competitive and specs up to date. Here's what I've mainly been looking into, for comparative purposes:

HP HDX 18t and 16t
Sony AW and FW series (18.4" and 16.4")
Dell XPS Studio 16

Recently, from advice given here, I was told to look into Asus laptops. The website is kind of confusing/intimidating for me to navigate, so I'd appreciate any advice!

Things I know I want:
HDD at least 320gb and 7200rpm. A cheap SSD would be great, but so far Dell seems like the only company offering reasonable SSD upgrades.

A graphics card that is will be able to play games for a few years. I am not a huge gamer or anything like that (probably won't be buying a PC game until Diablo 3 or Guild Wars 2 comes out), but for whatever reason, I do want to have a fairly powerful graphics card. something like the nvidia 9800 series, or the 130m.

4gb RAM

17"+ monitor. 16:10 would be awesome; I don't know if any of the Asus laptops (or any other laptops) comes with that. I've had a Dell 17" for the past 4 years, so yes, I know what I'm getting into with a big laptop. I'd also like it to be high def/high resolution (definitely higher than the 1440x900 one that was posted in another section).

stuff like webcam, fingerprint reader, etc, is nice, not necessary (well, the webcam would be nice)

Also, I would at least like blu ray read, and possibly write, if it's not too expensive.

All in all, I want to spend around 2k, and have this laptop last for the next 3 or 4 years.

Any advice? Thank you for your time!

 

If you can afford an extra 200 dollars, this will be the best laptop you will find.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220527

If not, then this MSI will probably be the second best at $1600:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152112

And yes, I know you're asking for an Asus, but that MSI is a great deal.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=g50vt

try looking at one of these two?

 

there are alot of non-asus brands that are custom and can give you better performance for a better price, but they are NOT asus's, but most people here will swear by them.

 

I agree that the W90 is awesome, but if you want to spend that kind of money you might also consider the Sager NP9850--dual GTX 280M's.

Scarletfever, if you really want a future-proof notebook you will definitely want to get a 9800M GT, GTX or better (GTX 260M, 280M, or ATI 4870). In addition to the Asus and MSI you might check out the Sager NP5797. For $2,000 you can add a 2.0Ghz quad core or 2.8Ghz dual core processor, along with the GTX 280M. (You don't want the FX2700M.) http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5797...uilt-clevo-m570etu-p-2540.html?wconfigure=yes

 

well, first off if you want something for $2k that will play the new games for a few years, you'll probably have to get the new alienware with dual 260m gpus at bestbuy. you'll need the best there is now to keep up for years. also, my fx had the 9800 gts and couldnt play crysis in all settings at very high when lower than native (1440x900) so again you'll need something stronger than that to keep up.

also, the new asus have facial recognition which is > fingerprint (if it works).

 

Thanks for your advice, everyone. I'll definitely look into the laptops posted here.

My main concern is, when ordering from sites like these, how is the support and warrantee? I've always bought Dells, and unlike some people have had good experience with their customer service, but I'm wary to buy stuff from sites like newegg and xoticpc because I don't really know anything about how the support works.

 

ASUS Warranty when buying from resellers, newegg included but resellers are usually our trusted friends at xoticpc.com gentechpc.com and several others. The warranty is 2 Years International Plus 1 Year accidental and a 30 day screen pixel defect warranty.

ASUS warranty standard is better than most, though you do pay a little in the price of the notebook its cheaper then getting the same warranty from HP. If you buy from a retailer like bestbuy its only a 1 year warranty which is part of what brings the price down.

While newegg takes returns/exchanges and other resellers like gentechpc are happy to help you set up an RMA if there is a problem, the support is handled through ASUS. Customer service varies by country but US and Canadian service is known to be good (canadian apparently being the best in the industry, all companies included), while the UK seems to be the worst.

 

best buy warranty is crap. they always blame software. they did for me for a month when it had problems like cooling fan running high when not needed and random ports stop working randomly. for a month they wouldnt give in and said it was windows, then finally replaced EVERYTHING. the mobo, cpu, battery, lower case, all of it had to be replaced. its been since april and i still havent gotten it fixed. now its been sent away 5 times so they should be - and should have already - replaced. also, they've been rude to me and basically calling me a liar when i come back saying it still doesnt work and i called corporate and the supervisor didnt care that i was being treated badly and just kept saying "warranty gives us 3 hardware tries" when they half the time wouldnt actually work on the hardware.

sorry for the rant, but yeah i'd go with newegg or crutchfield (dont they have laptops now?). Best Buy doesnt worry about customer service because they are the only place to go to.

 

Your rant is unecessary as the warranty on any ASUS model sold by Best Buy is through ASUS and not best buy. Once purchased you may just call up ASUS just as if you bought it from else where. There is no reason to involved Best Buy past the exhange period.

Reseller = 2 years international, 1 year accident, 30 day pixel defect through asus.

BestBuy = 1 year THROUGH ASUS.

Sure you can take to best buy, but your not exactly brilliant for doing so. Unless you purchase an extended warranty then the warranty is not at all through best buy.

 

true, but he sounded like he might have bought an extended since he seemed to care about warranties. mine's the 3 year which is why im going through them. plus my "friend" spilled a can of soda on the damn thing and it slowly died over 5 months (not bad considering half a can while running i guess). Gateway would laugh if I called them up.

 

I think it's important that I mention my thoughts on the Best buy Asus models that I saw at the store yesterday.

If Best Buy versions are your only experience with Asus, you don't really know what Asus is really capable of producing.
The A1 reseller versions are so much more substantial in design and quality. I cannot stress that enough after seeing a G71 and a G50 model at Best Buy for the first time.
If this is your only alternative due to financial reasons, then yes- I think Asus warranty is the way to go -

But the machines themselves , IMO , are not a fair representation of what Asus can do. The best buy versions I saw were very plastic and toy like in the way they "felt" ,, I cannot describe it any different. The g50 had a peculiar native resolution of 1366x768 . However this unit was under $999 also. I was just surprised at what I found when i saw them in person.


Your resellers here on the forums may be able to set you up with a configuration that fits your budget -- It wouldn't hurt to call one of them first before Best Buy-ing it.

A thousand dollars is still a thousand! Spend it wisely!

Gentech PC - 1toppc.com
Justin @ Xoticpc.com
and all the others listed in the Asus sticky thread!

 

There are other options to the BB warranty if you went with a BB model to save money. Square Trade will offer 3 years for $125 (G51) and $150 (G71) if you feel that you need something outside the first year and want to go with a big box vs. an e-tailer.

Tbh I think I'm more interested in a shorter warranty this time around because for some reason if I was to go with say the G51 I probably would want to be upgrading it sooner than later thus more than likely voiding the warranty in the process. If I had a 2 year warranty I'm one of those types that would probably wait it out as not to want to waste what I paid for. More than likely $%$#ing as I "wait it out", wishing I had that upgrade. Yes you are paying a premium for having that 2 year warrenty. Why BB offers only1 year is two-fold. It allows costs to be keep down, and for them to offer their own extended warranty coverage.

If you think you can't go more than a year without breaking that sticker then which warranty is moot.

 

Thanks to everyone for your help so far, especially RMPG505, who has been awesome

As of right now, I'm interested in the 17"+ laptops listed here http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=asusnb (the $1499 one, $1699 one, and $2029 one).

I'll probably shy away from the $2029 one, because I don't really think I need 6gb of ram, and I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I don't know that I need the 260m. Are there any other benefits to having the 260m, though? Will the laptop run cooler/use less power?

Two other (hopefully not dumb) questions.

1. Is there any difference between the A1 and the A2?
2. Is that $29 thermal compound necessary, or nice to have?

 

The N90Sv-A1 is actually an 18.4 Inch it packs a Bluray and a 1080P screen the GT 130M is no powerhouse but it does have enough power to game on depending on what you want out of it. The CPU is a very nice T9550. The main difference i see off the bat is the A2 has a 1TB hard drive versus the A1's 500GB

Its a good spec for a multimedia laptop and its more than you will get from HP at the same price. If the screen resolution and bluray are more your thing then gaming, I would go for it. As far as the G71 goes its still preorder the current BB model has a video bios issue with voltage (though ASUS is now aware and it will be fixed) the 260M runs hotter than the 130M.

If you have any questions about the laptop PM GenTechPC he will help you out, ive never ordered anything from them and he still helps me with my ASUS. Personally if your going to do paste in the future, just have them do it as it doesnt void the warranty. They might shoot me if i tell you to not bother but its up to you i did myne myself when i voided my warranty and upgraded the cpu myself.

 

Do our friends at xotic also do the paste for us without voiding the warranty?

 

As far as I know resellers and authorized service centers can apply artic silver 5 (and possibly others just never heard it mentioned) without voiding the warranty. One user who had their cpu swapped by GenTech and was afraid of what that would do to the warranty had no issues, Ken actually help setup the RMA for the owner who was having an unrelated problem with their unit.

 

Are you kidding me? The casing is the exact same thing, so I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Unless the online reseller ones are made of some, special amazing plastics, then you're completely incorrect.

Compare the G71GX BB and the G71GX's being sold online--same thing, save the color pattern.

I cannot stress enough how wrong you are. But please, feel free to provide proof that I'm incorrect.

But I'd really, really like to see proof of the difference. They're the same design and pretty sure the same materials. Don't let spending more money on something get to your head, thinking it's the end all be all.

If you can somehow prove that the plastics/materials are different, then I take it back, and you're correct, and I'll have to think about my future purchase. So please do, I'd like to know the -real- facts.

 

I was going to say something as well Scyiik but it also depends on how you interpret "design and quality".

The reseller versions not only have higher resolution screens, the panels themselves are also higher quality versions in comparison to those in the best buy models and those used by say acer. Its also known that good parts are binned for A/B first and for X series second. Ram and video cards are an example of the parts that are prioritized based on general tested quality. As far as design one might argue the reseller versions tend to look better or be more tasteful, which showed in the G50V and VT.

 

I understand the screen quality, there's no arguing there. I didn't know about the ram, video card, etc. Thanks for that little bit of information.

Though as I'm sure you're wondering (or maybe have the answer to), the plastics/chassis feels cheaper? Honestly? I find that very hard to believe.

 

As far as I know the actual chassis parts are the same quality across the board, but im not exactly an insider in the company either. I have not read about any chassis problems in the G50 line for example and you notice you never see dead units on ebay. ASUS did have one problem chassis in recent past and it didnt matter what version you had they all cracked.

As far as the electronic parts go if a company is testing their components (they make their own motherboards and video cards, but buy their ram) they would want the best components to go in those with the longest warranty.

 

I see, I was thinking the same thing. Don't get me wrong, haha, I'm no insider either. But I would have found it very hard to believe that Asus would use cheaper chassis' on the Best Buy model, seeing as they haven't ever done that before. Thanks for the info though.

 

I agree with ClutchX2 Scyiik. I went down to BB while I was looking to buy a G51VX and the had a G60VX (I think) and it was the exact same chassis as my G51VX-X3A. Unless there is something internal going on which I don't know about, which is possible but HIGHLY unlikely given that most pc parts are pretty modular from a footprint standpoint. I know that the XxA's the J's and the RXxx's differ when it comes to the motherboard, but again since it's not goging to change the footprint and most companies will avoid variances to save on bulk discounts when buying materials and manufacturing costs.

BB's warranties suck and their GeekSquad service is a joke. Sit me down for an hour and show me how to run a registry cleaner, ccleaner, and a list of bloatware's to remove (which is close to what they do) and I'll be their supreme leader.

Just buy from a reseller.

Oh and Scyiik - have you checked out a G71 in a best buy? I did not like the trackpad. Felt like gunky braille(sp?). The G51's is smooooooooooooooothhhhh.........

 

wow didn't realize how old this thread was....... *shrinking away*

 

I still prefer dells waranty. Its the only one which offers next day home repair (within 6th days max). Theres no other brand in Belgium that does that. If your other-brand laptop breaks you have to take it back to the store and they send it back to the factory and you won't see it for weeks. If you don't have a backup and need it for your studies that can be a real pain. On the other hand ,dell consumer line models tend to overheat. Also the current Asus G series overheat so...I'm waiting till one of those 2 (I prefer dell for the waranty, and asus for the quality)will bring a decent model.