Am I crazy

Just bought all these upgraded parts for my UNOPENED G60VX-RBBX05 lol

Intel x25-m 160GB was 476 / ebay -bing cashback total $400
Intel X9100 was 280 /ebay- bing cashback total $257
Samsung Ram 8 GB (2x4gb) was 250 /ebay-bing cashback $225
Sony BD-5730S-01 was 209/ ZZF-bing cashback $204.90
Asus 2nd drive bracket 22.00 after shipping (yes it was in stock!)
Windows 7 Pro $cheap

So am I crazy for buying all this? My logic is that it is cheaper doing it this way then getting it pre built with it. Would of been nice if the qx9300 was supported.

The laptop remains unopened since its a Christmas gift from my wife.

Forge better be right about this supporting more than 4GB

 

The only one that I really frown upon is the BD-ROM. That is, unless you have a nice screen to perhaps HDMI-out to

 

That's what I usually do when I purchase a laptop. It's definitely much cheaper to purchase and upgrade the parts yourself. Other than the X9100 CPU, I'd say it's a real nice setup (I'd personally opt for the T9900 due to the less heat output and power consumption).

 

So you didn't buy a G51J why?

Edit: I mean even the G51VX that you can now get for $1200 would be smarter. At least it'd not have the terrible BestBuy special 1366x768 screen.

 

Well, for $260 it's not a bad price at all.

 

That's a tough call.
I love upgrading hardware as much anyone but personally I think that's a little overkill.
I could see the CPU and maybe the SSD but why all the others?
I guess it depends what you are going to use this laptop for but if it's mainly going to be used as a gaming laptop I would skip upgrading the RAM and skip the BD.
And Kingston has a 128GB SSD for almost half the price as the INTEL, not sure how they stack up against each other performance wise but you can save quite a bit of money.

 

Here is my answers:

gusto5- I have a 46" samsung tv with 1080p and dont own a blu ray player and I plan on burning blu-ray discs

david- the x9100 as forge said was $260 the t9900 was 400-500 and we are not talking alot of added heat. the forum has a t9900 vs x9100. Also, good luck finding them instock anywhere.

filenotfound- My 31 year eyes did not want a 15.6" at 1920x1080

Forge- I have been reading some your posts you have been very helpful. I really wish you did get that qx9300 to work.

 

HP is selling them for $360. I got mine for $300 from another forum member and if you looked at the past ebay listings for the T9900, there was one recently sold for $250. I actually sold my X9100 due to the high heat output and high power consumption, but if those factors don't bother you, then the X9100 would be the better choice. $260 isn't a bad price.

 

This is a combo use for work, multimedia (hence the blu-ray drive), and gaming.

You found a t9900 for 250? Power doesn’t bother me since 90 percent of the time it will be plugged in. The blue ray is nice because I plan on using blu-ray burning for archiving. I really would of like the quad core for virtualization.

Guess I was wrong about the heat though. I will just get this:

http://computershopper.com/slidesho...ly-laptops-january-9-2009/laptop-watercooling

Laptop water cooling!

I would of bought the 51j, but the res is too high for my liking.

8GB turns off windows page file and I did notice a difference in my desktop. I was looking at the G51j-3d, but it is not out.

HP is out of stock on the t9900, I tried buying one from them.

Worse case, this will happen after I install the x9100:

 

Blu-Ray burning is far more expensive, and slower, than just buying an external HDD to suit your needs. for the cost of the drive, and your first 600GB of 25GB data disks, you could get a 2TB HDD..

 

You do realize that post vista, you can make high resolution screens very readable even on a small area since things aren't scaled pixel to pixel anymore due to clear type and aero right? Right? Oh...

Hey it's your money. If you want to spend 1k on a crapy laptop with a 1 year warranty and then throw another 1k at it to make it decent instead of buying one for LESS that has the same specs - knock yourself out.

In general though, if you have to go out and ask people if you're doing something stupid, chances are you are.

 

Vaild point. A hard drive can fail though and yes a blu-ray disc could scratch. Yes, I could of just bought the reader I suppose. Might of jumped the gun on the blu ray burner, but its done and not worth the trouble and expense to return it.

I own a NAS (RAID 1 2x250GB) and 2 External drives.

 

a blu-ray reader, which is worthwhile, can be bought for 60$ so the savings on returning the burner could be spent buying Blu-ray movies =] I have over 12TB of external storage including dual 2TB Raid1 enclosures, so I am plenty up there with storage.

 

Please quote me a laptop with all the specs I have for under $2000.

Edit: What makes this laptop crappy? I understand the cooling is not the best and the MB does not support quad cores, but from what I have seen it seems solid. Look how long the G51J-A1 blue screen thread is. I also read that the g51j has overheating issues. I was also limited to best buy to purchase the laptop (not by my choice).

 

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=452634

Just as good and you could use the remaining $100 to take your wife out to dinner....

 

You'll be loosing significant graphical power with the GTS 250M in the Toshiba.

 

I do plan on playing some games even on my samy 46" (ln46a650)

 

That is a nice laptop, the 18" is a bit big of screen though. I still want a 160gb ssd drive, so add another 500 your past the 2k mark.

 

Just a note on the G51J screen: I'm 59 and have worn glasses since I was 12 (my eyes suck, in other words). I was very concerned about the screen, but having one I can say it's really not an issue. I got used to the small type quickly, and the high resolution pays HUGE dividends in lack of "jaggies." Some complain about the G51's screen but I got a good one, blacks are very black, contrast is great, and I've never had to turn the brightness up all the way even in full daylight; I really have no complaints.

The "blue screen" thread is long because people are trying to troubleshoot the problem. It's rare (not every G51 has it) and those that do have it only in a very few games and under certain circumstances - it seems using an external monitor while playing Borderlands may be the key. If you're not going to do that you won't have the problem, and even if you are it's rare. I'll let those working the issue say whether it'd be a deal breaker if they could make their buying decision over again, but it seems more inconvenient than anything.

For your intended use FileNotFound has some good points regarding the power versus price of the two machines. But as you say you have to shop Best Buy it may not matter.

 

Best Buy made convincing the other half easier since 0 percent, gift cards rewards ect. I understand what some are saying, but for fewer than 2k you can't match price and specs anywhere else.

I tried sager and alienware even other asus laptops, all turned out in the end to cost more money. This gave me the most bang for my buck. I do regret the choice of words for this thread title. I am not crazy lol, but was just looking for other opinions on my choices.

Ultimately I am satisfied, though the qx9300 would have felt more complete. My next project is improving the cooling somehow.

CIAO!

 

You should have waited, asus is bringing out a new model with the 360m gts next year with standard 8 gigs of ram for 1600 euros.

 

This is a christmas gift, waiting was not an option. The next released item that Asus is the G51J-3d, who knows how long before they come out with the model that has the m360 for the US.

 

Hmm, that's about $300 and change past his budget.

 

Watching films in 720p still looks pretty amazing to me especially compared to DVDs but I'm content enough with DVDs so I may just wait til the next time I upgrade. But I just want to say that Blu will still look awesome regardless of the lower resolution.

 

Are you kidding me! I just got a box from HP today its the T9900 even though I cancled it. Great now I have a x9100 and a T9900.

I guess my option is to sell the x9100.

 

Well if you were stuck buying from Best Buy, I suppose you did the best you could.

I would never have gone the route you did for a laptop. Personally I never buy top of the line laptops or laptop components. They just don't last like desktops.

For your sake, I hope your wife is a huge technophile and actually appreciates the specs. My girlfriend's idea of a gaming laptop is one that is capable of playing bejewled.

 

This is for me not her! Its from her to me lol

My wife has a HP dv5

 

Well, the right thing to do would be to send it back. If you sent out two $300 items, when someone only paid for one, wouldn't you hope they'd return it to you?


I know I may get some flack for this..

 

I think you misunderstood,

The x9100 was from ebay. I paid for it
The t9900 was from HP. I cancled it, they shipped it anyway and charged my credit card.

I now want to keep the t9900 and sell the x9100.

 

Yes. Because I didn't read that they "charged" you. Only that you canceled, and they sent it to you.

I guess that's my fault.

 

The "are you kidding me!" was me being a bit pissed off and yet semi happy.

 

Since you've already spent so much on the G60, you might as well top it off with a 500GB 7200RPM HDD or another SSD if you have the spare change

 

not in ur life mate. that is a pretty bad deal. much much better laptops than a toshiba

 

Toshiba is way to big and ugly in my book!
Agreed.

 

Bottomline is FileNotFound could not find me a laptop with similar specs for under 2k. The tosh was too big and as other meantioned only had a gs250. I am now typing and using the asus laptop. I need to get use to this keyboard as it is it a bit different then the last laptop I used (dell E6500). I think the spacing on the keys is what is throwing me off.

All the upgrades went well. Still in the process of selling the x9100 giving the forum member until fri to pay. If not, others have PM me ready to buy.

I don't understand why asus didnt make the fan port on the bottom open? I mean whats the point? Guess I might buy another bottom then drill it and put in a mesh screen could help cooling.

Thanks guys for your opinions

 

the exact mod you told Forge looked ghetto =p

 

I was looking at the heatsinks not the cutout. I guess since it's under the hood it doesnt matter. I should of rephrased my wording, which I will do by editing that post.