Is now a good time to buy?

Hey everyone,

I'm planning on getting a new laptop and am very interested in the G51JX-X1 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220700&cm_re=asus-_-34-220-700-_-Product)

Is now a good time to buy this laptop? Are newer laptops coming out soon, which would drop the price of this one? Is there any reason I should wait?

Thanks

 

Newer laptops are always coming out soon. That's the nature of the tech industry. My advice is to buy a laptop when you need it. If you plan on playing the waiting game, you'll find yourself without a laptop indefinitely.

 

well when I built my desktop, I bought everything a month before core2 duo came out, and I've been beating myself up about it ever since. I just dont want to run into something like that again

 

Go for it now, these new iXs will be here for years.

 

The best thing to do is evaluate your needs and budget and pick a laptop by process of elimination. It is true there's always something new coming out, but there's usually a window of opportunity between what's coming out and what's already here. Icore laptops are here now, so currently there's no real reason to wait unless you have a specific laptop in mind like the asus ul30jc or the acer 3820tg that's not out yet.

If I were buying a laptop today it would be an icore model for sure.

 

Laptops are funny things. The technologies involved tend to make big advances at the same time as several components all make a performance and price point shift at the same time. This is when you buy a laptop. I feel that we are currently in a shift for the next few months with laptops that will be pushing the boundaries, then back to incremental advances. So you can wait to see what is the best of this generation, or jump on the leading edge and take a chance. I ordered an Asus U30JC-A1 because it is a leap ahead for what it does in its size package...and it advertised itself better than the competition, and cheaper.

If you just go and impulse buy laptops, you are going to always be kicking yourself unless you are lucky. You need to spend some time at least keeping an eye of the pulse on the laptops, see what is out, what is rumored to be coming. Definitely keep an eye on desktops too. If they make a big jump in tech, you need to keep an eye for when it filters to the laptops. Doesn't take much effort either. I check on laptops about every 3 months and see what is new. When I feel that there is a congruence of technologies happening, I start researching in earnest to find the one that best suits my interest. That of course really starts the "do I wait a week more, or pull the trigger on this one" when you have several models coming out in a short time span.

 

Yes, I believe it is a good time to buy laptops ! i'm gonna buy a new one too!

 

Well let me put it this way: are there any newer 15in gaming laptops coming out that I will either want instead (because of much better stats), or that will drop the price of the g51jx?

 

the only real competition to the g51 is going to be the msi gx640/gt660 in the next couple months - same/similar specs, but much cheaper. Asus might spit out a g51 refresh to counter but they really can't add much more (a g51 with a 5850 would be sexy though).

As for is it a good time to buy: we've now seen icore and dx11 cards released, the next big thing (fermi gpus) won't be out until late Q4 and probably won't be desirable right away. I'm going to wait until may/june myself to see what the gt660 will be like.

 

The GX640 is already out and shipping.

 

Buy what you can/want to afford and does the job you want it to do.
There is new technology coming out every day ..