Asus N73SV-A3

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my sony Vaio VPCF126FM/B, a 16.5" 1600x900 lcd, 1st gen i7 with 6gb ddr3, 640gb 5400 rpm hdd, nvidia geforce gt 330m, bluray reader and backlit keyboard.

I am looking seriously at the N73SV as my new machine, selling the Vaio to a guy on craigslist for $1050, which is not bad, and will pay for most of the new laptop's price. Now the only thing I worry about is the backlit keyboard. The Asus doesn't have it as an option, is there a way I can take one from another laptop model? Also, does anyone know what sticks of Ram come in the Asus stock, a 4gb ddr3 133-1066 and 2gb of the same speed, or something else, and what brand? Thinking of later on throwing in 6 more gb's of ram, and probably getting an SSD for this setup, maybe even upgrade to Intel 6230 wifi + bluetooth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I actually took a peak into mine today, I looked at the RAM modules and it is the standard 4gb and then a 2gb, i didnt look at brand but i'm also considering getting an SSD as theres two 500gb inside

There are backlit keyboard replacements available, but I think they are permanently on, and some people have modded theirs to add switches.

 

I too am looking at the N73SV-A3...can't find many people who have it thought who can give their imput.

I do wonder, with all these mods...why not just opt for a different laptop.

Also, even on a 64bit machine, isn't more than 8mb of RAM...well, isn't it just about pointless? True, RAM is cheap, but I was thinking the computer can't really access more than 6 or 8 MB.

 

any way you could check brand on the RAM for me? And where are you finding these mods, links if possible would be awesome, if not at least a mention of where to look would help.

How is the machine tho? Is it manageable in terms of weight/ portability? I have a super light 16" Vaio now, and don't want to be tied down to a boat anchor, but can deal with a little more weight. Also, any issues you have with the machine whatsoever? Thanks!

I really like Asus, and couldn't find anything comprable to this in the same price range that offered a backlit keyboard. I NEED sandy bridge, as it's the main reason I'm upgrading. Also, I need to have a nice, hi-res screen, a fast connector standard (USB 3 or Esata, usb 3 is preferred tho), good battery life and very fast performance, including on the GPU side, I video edit 1080p from my camcorder every now and again.

I know the 12GB is going to be a bit overkill, but screw it, I'm going to look to get the most performance squeezed out of this machine as possible!

 

How about the Dell XPS? Roughly the same price and I'm seeing less issues with it than the N73. I will probably chose between the two. The Dell I read in reviews has a much better screen and multiple USB 3's...that actually seem to work unlike the problems I hear with the Asus modle. I think the N73SV LOOKS cooler though. Tough choice.