G50V-A1 Questions

I've read a lot of reviews, discussions, and critical information about the ASUS G50V-A1. From the three reviews that I've read here by Vicious, emporiumboutique, and GenTechPC the gaming laptop has no real cons aside from it's above average budget price. I've also compared it to many other brands, and they really just dont seem to have all the small or big features like the full numpad and GPU ability that the G50V-A1 does.

I have tried to fully educate myself on ASUS laptops, the G50V-A1, retailers that supply them, and more but I'm still left with some questions, so please excuse me if they have been answered before.

My first question has to do with lifespan and design flaw potentials. As far as I know, the G50V-A1 is a recent laptop, released just a bit before the start of this month, and no problems have been reported yet. What I want to know is, do ASUS laptops usually have a good lifespan and what would happen if there was some design flaw that caused the laptops to malfunction in the future but was not related to the individual's usage of the laptop?

The second question that has been haunting me is the keyboard problem found in the M50s. I was actually going to purchase the M50VM-A1 but I read from several replies and posts about the awful keyboard stroke lag or detection problems found in them. This lead me to the more expensive and powerful G50V-A1. Now from the current reviews no one has experienced the same keyboard problems. My question is, how is ASUS's trackrecord when it comes to issues like the keyboard problem, how many problems like this have shown up in other laptops that they have made, did they fix them?

Finally, my third question. What retailer should I buy from?

There is Newegg. Buying from them would be a little more comforting to me because I know that they're a rather big and trusted company. I know that if a DOA or defect in the laptop occurs, they will handle it professionaly. A major con, is that it seems to be a lot more expensive compared to the other retailers.

Then we have GenTech. The price is 60 dollars cheaper than Newegg, and freeshipping! It seems to be very trusted by this community. Along with the fact that Ken seems to be great with support here. However the whole feel of the site kind of scares me, if I had found it and didn't read all the positive comments about it on this forum, I probably would have thought it was some kind of scamming retailer. The odd design, typos, and stolen images gave me that impression. If someone can just reassure me that my information and purchase will be safe here, I'll gladly put aside it's oddness.

The final retailer, Xoticpc. Main reason I would buy from here is that the price for the G50V-A1 is only $1589. That's 110 dollars less than Newegg! It also comes with freeshipping. The problem is, I haven't heard a lot of people here buying from them, so if anyone would fill me in on how their previous purchases or purchase of the G50V-A1 went, that would be very helpful.

That pretty much wraps it up, most of my serious questions were answered by the great reviewers and people's posts here. Anyone who has taken the time to read this, thank you. I will greatly appreciate even a little help on any of the questions here, so please help me if you can.

 

Great post. I'm looking at purchasing a G50V soon and would love to see the responses to this thread.

Also have to comments on this:


"However the whole feel of the site kind of scares me, if I had found it and didn't read all the positive comments about it on this forum, I probably would have thought it was some kind of scamming retailer."

Very True, I originally skipped over them because I didn't like the website setup, 'but of course' I continued to do research and found that GenTech has a lot of satisfied and happy customers who support them. I think GenTech is in need of a website upgrade.

 

I believe Gentech also has a cash discount like Xotic, and Gentech is a reputable member of these forums.

Also, the Sager I am currently using was purchased from Xotic and I have nothing bad to say about them.

 

Xotic & Gentech are better than newegg, you get hands on support directly from a certified Asus retailer. If you go thru newegg then you have to deal with Asus directly probably for most problems (plus the higher cost)

Then add in the fact that yes both Gentech (Ken) and Xotic (Justin) have cash discounts (and Gentech I know does e-check via paypal for a discount) and you can configure/customize the unit its a no brainer.

There are no stolen images on there site that I know of, Asus send them pictures to post for there page so its going to look the same as another page that received the same images. While I do not know about Gentech as a whole Ken while very good with english (I have spoke to him on the phone more than once) I do not think that english was his first language so that may account to why there may be some spelling or grammar errors.

Im not biased between the two in any way, but I can only fully recommend Gentech since I have bought 2 units from them and stolen countless hours of Kens time with questions and aid for things. He is also the only person I have seen go so far out of his way to do extra for us like he used to post beta bios for the Asus C90S for us that were not released to the public by Asus, and write guides and things.

 

Alright, thank you Vicious, I'll ditch Newegg as an option and go with either GenTech or Xotic. If anyone else has any comments about Xotic please reply here, thank you.

I was mainly referring to things like the old amazon.com add to cart buttons.

 

Hey Pload, I was in the same boat as you last week. After reading all the great reviews of the laptop I went ahead and purchased one. I preordered the laptop from GenTech PC and it ended up shipping 2 days later, which was very pleasing. I should have mine by Monday or Tuesday this week! GenTech seems like a good company and Ken has replied to all my questions politely and quickly. Of course, the site is lacking but I think they make up for it in customer service. I haven't got mine yet but everything seems great!

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

When you get it, please post how well its functioning when you receive it lonemedic.

 

Sure thing--Tracking # says Monday/Tuesday

It's double boxed so it shouldn't be damaged but I'll double check to see if I received everything and that it is all functional.

 

If I order the G50V from Gentech to Canada, will I have to pay duty?

 

i guess yes

 

are there any stores from where i can pick G50-A1 except BB as they have the X1 version which i really dont want..

 

I believe its only available online as of now. Could be available in the future at more specialist stores.

 

Lonemedic, have you received your G50V-A1 today? If so how is the keyboard on it? I noticed Vicious's warning about the possibility of the keyboard lag that was normally found in only the M50s but now in the G50V-A1. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=252283&page=7

There was also another memeber who complained about his keyboard bouncing a bit near the ends of it.

 

I didnt want to start a panic. I think it was my typing more than anything. Last night when I made sure to press the keys more heavy I had no problems.

It was just really bad all of a sudden then it went away, maybe I was typing too lax?

 

How soon does GenTech ship compared to NewEgg? I'm trying to get mine before Thursday, and I think Newegg pretty much ships next day. I think someone said GenTech ships in a couple of days.

 

On the previous page lonemedic said they shipped his 'pre-ordered' G50V-A1 2 days later on GenTech. I'm pretty sure Newegg ships next day. I wouldn't recommend buying it from Newegg now though, due to $21.91 shipping cost and overall price increase compared to GenTech's freeshipping and lower price.

 

Well I'm planning on getting next day shipping, and paying with a credit card so I don't qualify for a cash discount or free shipping. My classes start on Thursday so I would like my laptop before then if possible, and if I get it through Newegg I should have it by Wednesday

*edit* looking back at lonemedics post he said he preordered it, so GenTech may ship next day, so I will call them and find out.

*edit again* wait a minute... DO they have a phone number I can call?

 

http://www.gentechpc.com/contact/contact.html

 

ah thanks Pload... donno why I couldn't find that page

 

Gentech ships instantly but they have to have the product in stock. Right now there is simply more demand than there is supply but I think they were supposed to just get a shipment in so I dont know how they stand on pre-order fulfillment.

 

I talked to GenTech and they said they have it in stock and will ship instantly, so I will order from them.

Also, the fellow I talked to seemed extremely personable as Vicious has mentioned in previous posts, so at least from first impressions they seem like a nice company to work with, unlike some companies I've ordered from in the past *cough*cyberpower*cough*.

 

Pload, it is coming Tuesday. GenTech shipped it 2 days later because they were currently sold out when I purchased.

 

Hey Guys, can anyone tell me where I might get this laptop with the same specifications as that of GenTechPC in the Uk.

Thanks,

Mehdi

Email:[email protected]

 

It's possible that you can't, many times EU models are different from US models. Also I haven't yet seen the G50 in NL, is it available in the UK?

Furthermore, please have a look in the info booth, look for the thread "ASUS Problems with Notebooks and Support". There have been problems with ASUS support in the UK. Consider that before you buy.

 

Question does the 8x DVDRW DL drive have Lightscribe??

If yes, what are the Best DVD-R discs to buy inorder to us it?

 

Yes,

Verbatim brand lightscribe disks.

 

Vicious, got a random question about the OLED display. I believe a few people have mentioned that you can view email notifications on the display. Does that depend on which email client you use or is it with any email service?

 

from what ive read online, hotmail works... gmail doesn't

correct me if im wrong vicious

 

I have not tried that yet, I'll have to try tonight when I go to work and setup my laptop.

 

Great. I have gmail

 

Usually the OLED will not work with web-based clients. Does Gmail offer POP3 access? If so you could pull your emails using e.g., Thunderbird and POP3, and the OLED might work with that.

You'd lose the Gmail interface though. Supposedly it's great (I'm not using it).

 

Alright Pload, I've got it! There is some keyboard lag and in some places which makes things complicated. Pushing the keys down harder seems to help a bit. I bet it will be fixed.

 

Ditto on all of that. Ken's repairing my son's A8js right now under warranty and I didn't buy it from him (wasn't aware). But I did buy my C90s and upcoming ????? from him. Don't think English is first language, plus they probably did the site themselves smartly instead of subbing the design out, but Ken can step in on that one....site works for me!

 

Good to know you got it and thanks for reporting in about the keyboard. I'm going to be holding out until ASUS releases some kind of fix or atleast gives acknowledgement of the problems with the keyboards.

 

I havent gamed yet but i have installed all my games. The lag seems to be sporadic so I don't care all that much. I don't see it at all as I am typing this time. This thing is awesome Pload, you need one lol!

 

Just a shot in the dark but was using everest to look up the lightscribe function on the optical drive and saw that the keyboard is "japanese" I wonder if that causes any conflicts internally with key presses.



Also reporting back, the G50V does not have lightscribe, so I have to eat my words. I removed the + lightscribe part from my specs in my review I dunno how I made the mistake but I just installed the software for it and it wont recognize a disk when I put it in for a label.

 

My lightscribe doesn't work either but it is supposed to have it...

 

Id definitely does not have it, I installed the software and it wont support the drive. Where did I get the idea that it had it in the first place tho. Thats what I dont remember.